The ancient prophecies/histories of the nations of the Middle East provide background to the conflicts there today. The same adversarial relationships describe Israel's neighbors and herself.
Ezek 12—Ezekiel is instructed about making God’s words relevant, and no more to be postponed
1 The word of the Lord also came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house. [Compare Deut 29:4, Isa 6:10, Isa 29:10, Mark 8:14-21, Luke 8:10, Rom 11:8, Eph 4:18, 2 Thes 2:10-12]
The Lord instructs Ezekiel to communicate with the people using a sort of combination of object/symbolic/demonstration lessons . . . lessons that would SIT well, that is, they were Surprising, Interesting, and Troubling.
1. Ezekiel is to pack up during the day and move, in plain sight of all, with the hope the Israelites will take notice and consider
2. Next he is to remove his stuff in the people’s sight, as a person taken into captivity
3. He is to dig a hole in the wall and carry his stuff out through it
4. Further, he is to carry his stuff on his shoulders in the twilight, with his face covered, so he can’t see the ground; all this as a sign/symbol/representation to the Israelites
The next morning the Lord asks Ezekiel if the people didn’t ask him what he was up to. He is to explain that all this was essentially a visual parable of what is to happen to the prince/ruler, the people of Jerusalem, and the Israelites among them. They will be removed and brought into captivity. Their prince will bear his stuff on his shoulder and leave at twilight (an ignominious flight). They’ll dig through the wall for their escape, and the prince’s face will be covered so he can’t even see the ground before him. He will be taken as in a net or with snares/traps and brought to Babylon, but he’ll never see it, even though he’ll die there (Zedekiah fled when Jerusalem fell, but his pursuers caught up with him: he was blinded after they killed his sons before his eyes, and then taken captive to Babylon).
Continuing, the Lord says He will scatter all the king’s helpers to the winds, and his armies will be chased & killed by the sword. The people will acknowledge the Lord, and that He was behind all that happened to them, when they are scattered/dispersed among other nations. God will spare a few Israelite survivors of the wars, famine, and pestilence/disease, to testify of their abominations when they are carried away among the heathen. They will acknowledge their God.
Ezekiel is to eat and drink with quaking and trembling, and fear. It’s a representation of how the residents of Jerusalem and the land of Israel will do as their nation is destroyed because of their violent lifestyles.
The Lord asks, What’s this saying so prevalent in the land of Israel that Life goes on as usual, and all the dire prophecies fail to come about? He says to Ezekiel, Tell them “I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel . . .” the days are quickly coming when the prophecies will be fulfilled. There won’t be any more foolish “visions” and flattering false prophecies among the House of Israel.
“For I am the Lord: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged [delayed]: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God.”
While people are saying Ezekiel’s prophecies are a long way off in coming, the Lord says, None of My words are to be postponed any longer. All I [God] have said will be done.
(Ezek 17 is covered in part 2, the riddle or parable of the eagles & the cedars; it touches on king Zedekiah’s hopes for an Egyptian alliance which will cause his downfall before the Babylonian king.)
Ezek 19—a parable of lions, and a parable of a vine: the strong taken captive; no rulers left
A “lamentation for the princes of Israel” . . .
What is your mother? A lioness with cubs. One cub grew to a strong young lion, catching prey and devouring people. But the nations heard of him, caught him in a pit. and he was taken in chains to Egypt.
The lioness lost hope in that cub, and took another of her cubs to grow into a strong young lion. He learned to hunt prey, and devoured people. He laid waste to the cities, the palaces, and the land. The land was full of his roaring.
But then the nations all surrounded him on every side, and took him in a net and put him in a pit in chains. They brought him to the king of Babylon to be imprisoned. His voice would no more be heard in the mountains/hills of the land of Israel.
A second parable: thy mother is like a fruitful vine full of branches, planted by the waters. This vine had strong branches that bore rule. She was exalted in her multitude of lofty branches. But then she was plucked up in fury. She was thrown down, and the east wind dried up her fruit. Her strong branches were broken and withered. They were consumed in fire. “ And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground.” The fire of one of her branches has destroyed all her fruit. She is left without a strong branch to bear rule. This is the lamentation.
The first parable (of the lions) would appear to refer to the rule/leadership of Joseph who was taken into Egypt as a slave, yet he (and probably his line) essentially ruled the Children of Israel there. But the leadership/rule of the Children of Israel eventually passed to the tribe of Judah, King David’s line. Under the rule of Judah Israel prospered. But Israel’s jealous neighbors conspired to destroy him, and he was carried away to Babylon. Similarly, in the 2nd parable: Israel prospered like a well-watered (grape) vine by a stream or body of water. But she was pulled up, her branches broken and burned. She is left without an heir to her throne. (Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, saw his heirs killed before his eyes; other Jewish royalty had been imprisoned in Egypt and Babylon.)
Ezek 20—the Lord likens His future rescue of His people to what He did in the Exodus from Egypt
In the 7th year (presumably of captivity, that is, of Zedekiah’s reign—while Ezekiel and the first captives were already in Babylon), the elders of Israel come to the prophet Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord. But the Lord replies, “Are ye come to inquire of me? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.” He then lists their history . . .
The language of this chapter is so beautiful and powerful, the following is a just poor summary:
The Lord made Himself known to Jacob/Israel’s posterity in Egypt, and brought them out of slavery. He told them to throw away the idols of Egypt, and gave them the Law of Moses (a law of Justice and Mercy) to live by, including Sabbaths as a sign of the covenant between them and God. But they rebelled against Him in the wilderness, continuing to worship Egypt’s gods (“for their heart went after their idols”), despising His laws, and polluted His Sabbaths. Nevertheless, the Lord yet cared for them (that His name would not be profaned by the heathen nations, who knew He had rescued Israel from Egypt) and brought them into a land the Lord had chosen for them, a land “flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands”. See
https://www.gotquestions.org/Israel-milk-honey.html
https://www.penn.museum/sites/canaan/Climate%26Fauna.html
The Lord admonished Israel not to follow the idolatry of their fathers in Egypt, nor follow their old traditional codes of law, but to follow/keep His laws of Justice and to keep His Sabbaths holy. Still, they rebelled against/despised His laws and polluted His Sabbaths. He warned them of His anger, yet He held back for the sake of His reputation among the heathen. He left them to their abominations (including sacrificing their children in fire to idols).
“Thus saith the Lord God; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me . . .” for when He brought them into the Promised Land (by His hand they were able to settle there), they made every hill and all the large trees places of idolatry/idol worship. The Lord asks “Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations?” Aren’t you still going on in those ways? Why should I [God] listen to/answer your inquiries [pleas for care & protection, good fortune—just as the Greeks would go to their oracles]?
And yet, the Lord promises after all that He will bring/gather His people out of captivity among the nations, as He did when He rescued them from Egypt. In the “wilderness of the people” He will plead with His people face to face to put away all their wicked ways and serve Him. In this wilderness/captivity He will purge the rebels and sinners from among them. “For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.” [Note the great work that Ezra and Nehemiah did among the people to bring them back to God, when He had brought them back {through Cyrus) to their land, Israel].
Then will the Lord accept their sacrifices, and they will honor Him with holiness of thought and behavior before the heathen. Israel will acknowledge and loathe themselves for the evils they [their fathers] committed. They will know the Lord is their God, and has dealt with them in mercy, despite what they as a people deserved.
Ezekiel is to prophesy against the forests south of him (as he was in Mesopotamia, Israel would be south of him), that the Lord would start a fire in those forests to devour all the trees, living or dead, Thus all people will know that the Lord was behind the destruction.
Ezekiel answers, Lord, they say I’m speaking in parables. [Implying either that he is not being direct and clear, or that his stories are like folktales.]
Ezek 36—the gathering of Israel (see also Ezek 28:24-26)
Because Israel’s neighbors considered the conquest of Israel their chance to encroach on Israel’s territory, the Lord says He will bring them to shame. Note that after the Assyrian conquest, Israel & Judah were once again one kingdom (as they had been in the days of King David), ruled by David’s lineage.
6 Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen . . .
8 But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come . . .
The Lord promises to prosper Israel. The cities will be repopulated. What had become wasteland will be rebuilt. “And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.”
Before, the House of Israel defiled their own land with their iniquities and idolatries (like an unclean, separated woman), so the Lord poured out His fury on them. He scattered them among the heathen. But then the Lord had pity on them, not for their own sakes (because they profaned/disrespected God’s name among the heathen), but for His own name’s sake. He will make His name holy/reverenced again. He promises to gather them out of all the nations where they are scattered and bring them back to their own land. He will cleanse them from their filthiness and idolatries (He speaks of clean water, as if in washing away their sins, like in baptism).
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes [what is legal and what is not] and ye shall keep my judgments [establishing innocence or guilt, and sentencing Laws], and do them.
28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Ezek 25—vs Ammonites, Moab, Seir/Edom, Philistines
4 Behold, therefore I will deliver thee [Ammonites] to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk.
5 And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couchingplace for flocks: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
6 For thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel . . .
11 And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
12 ¶ Thus saith the Lord God; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them . . .
14 . . . I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord God.
15 ¶ Thus saith the Lord God; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it [the land of Israel] for the old hatred . . . [remember the stories of Samson & Delila, David & Goliath, etc]
17 And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-near-eastern-world/ammonites-moabites-edomites-in-the-bible/ Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites
https://www.gotquestions.org/mount-Seir.html Mt Seir belonged to Edom
https://bibleatlas.org/mount_seir.htm map, scriptures, & Encyclopedia entries for Mt Seir/Bozrah
Ezek 35—prophecies vs Mt Seir (Edom) & Idumea
2 Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it,
3 And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate.
4 I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.
5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end . . .
The Lord chastises Edom for gleefully anticipating taking advantage of Israel’s troubles, thinking to take over the land of Israel. Edom will be destroyed and will know that God is the Lord. In the last verse of the chapter Idumea is included in the desolation. Likewise, Idumea is only hardly mentioned in Ezekiel 36 (verse 5) “Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.” Idumea, like Edom, joyfully considers the conquest of Israel as a chance to take over the land.
https://www.biblestudy.org/meaning-names/idumea.html valuable info about Idumea & its history
Ezek 26-27—prophecies vs Tyre
In the 11th year (of the Jewish king Zedekiah, and the captivity of the first group carried/taken to Babylon) the Lord speaks to Ezekiel against Tyre. Tyre had a long history with Israel. The king of Tyre was friends with Kings David & Solomon of Judah. But by the time of the Babylonian conquest Tyre had an adversarial relationship to the land & people of Israel.
https://www.worldhistory.org/Tyre/ background info & history of Tyre, a wealthy Phoenician city
2 Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:
3 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.
4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.
5 It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God: and it shall become a spoil to the nations.
6 And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
7 ¶ For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.
Chapter 27 is a lament for Tyre . . . speaking of her rich trade among the islands of the Mediterranean, as well of Egypt, Persia, Syria, Judah, and other lands of the Middle East. “Tyrus, O thou that art situate[d] at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord God; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.” This chapter is abundant with details about the products and trade goods of various ancient lands and peoples of the Middle East.
https://bibleatlas.org/tarshish.htm Tarshish, located in what is now Spain
https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/27-13.htm Javan, Tubal, and Meshech (scroll down for commentary)
https://biblehub.com/topical/t/togarmah.htm Togarmah
https://bibleatlas.org/dedan.htm Dedan, in Arabia/Persian Gulf
Ezek 28—prophecies vs Tyre & Sidon
Prophesy against & lament for Tyre (Note the mention of Daniel)
2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
3 Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:
4 With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:
5 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:
6 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;
7 Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.
Tyre is described as a garden like Eden, with all sorts of precious stones: sardius, topaz, diamond, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, emerald, carbuncle, gold. Finely crafted musical instruments: tabrets and pipes (tambourines or small drums, and flutes) that would be played for joyous occasions. But the prosperity of trade brought violence (no doubt robbery & theft).
Prophesy vs Zidon/Sidon (sister Phoenician city to Tyre)
22 And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.
23 For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
Ezek 29-32—prophecies vs Egypt
In the 10th year (of King Zedekiah in Judah, and the 1st group of Captives in Babylon, where Ezekiel was), the Lord gives a prophesy against Pharaoh and all Egypt:
3 Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.
4 But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.
5 And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.
6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.
7 When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.
The kingdom of Judah had hoped for help from Egypt against Babylon, and Pharaoh didn’t come through. “Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee. And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the Lord: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.” The prophesy is that Syene to Ethiopia will be wasted & desolate for 40 years, perhaps other cities as well, but after 40 years the Lord will gather them from where they have been scattered and bring them back to their land, though they will not be so high and mighty. Pathros is a name for southern Egypt.
https://bibleatlas.org/syene.htm interesting info about Syene, including a Jewish colony there; click on the map to enlarge it.
In the 27th year the Lord tells Ezekiel that Nebuchadrezzar and his army’s wages for their service against Tyre, He will give them the land of Egypt and its spoil. All this to convince God’s people that He is Lord [when these prophecies come to pass].
Not only Egypt, but her allies to the south (Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, various mixed peoples, and Chub) will fall by the sword of the Babylonians. Zoan (in the Nile delta) and other cities will be burned and destroyed.
https://bibleatlas.org/lud.htm an explanagion of Lydia/Lud in Ezek 30:5
https://bibleatlas.org/memphis.htm about Noph (Memphis)
https://bibleatlas.org/dispersion.htm interesting info about the scattering of Israel over the centuries
https://bibleatlas.org/zoan.htm about Zoan (Tanis) in the Nile Delta
https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/30-14.htm No is the city of Thebes
https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/30-15.htm Sin is another city in the Nile Delta
In the 11th year the Lord says metaphorically that He has broken Pharaoh’s arm(s) and it (they) won’t be bound and healed in order to hold a sword. God will scatter the Egyptians among the nations. He will strengthen the king of Babylon and allow him to conquer Egypt. Even the Egyptians will recognize that God is Lord (Ruler, Master, the Superior Authority).
Two months later, in the 11th year, the Lord gives Ezekiel a parable about Assyria for Egypt to take heed: Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon (famous for exceptional trees). He was tall and thick with long branches. He grew in a well-watered place. The birds of the air made nests among his branches, and raised their young. In the shade of his branches all the beasts of the field gave birth to their young. The great nations lived in his shadow. The firs and the chestnut trees were nothing next to him. He was so beautiful that all the trees in the Garden of Eden envied him. But because he was so full of himself, God brought his downfall at the hand of a heathen [the Babylonian Empire], who would drive him out for his wickedness. “I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.” All of his allies will fall with him. (Compare the fall of Babylon: Rev 14:8, Rev 18, Isa 13:19, Isa 14, Isa 21:9, Isa 47:5) Egypt/Pharaoh’s egotism is like Assyria’s before his fall.
Near the end of the 12th year Ezekiel is to take up a lament/mourning for Pharaoh: You are like a young lion among the nations, a whale in the sea. You walked through their rivers and befouled them. But God will spread His net over you by the hands of many people. You’ll be brought up onto the land, tossed out in an open field where you will be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. Your flesh will lay on the mountains, your blood will fill the valleys. Your blood will water the land where you used to swim, and the land and rivers will be full of you. God will blanket the heavens to darken the stars and moon, and cover the sun with a cloud [likely a description of the smoke of burning cities when Babylon conquers Egypt]. “Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall . . .”
A couple weeks later the Lord again tells Ezekiel to make a wailing for Egypt. Egypt will join other nations in hell, who were or would be conquered/destroyed by Babylon’s armies: Asshur (Assyria), Elam (Persia), Meshech, Tubal, Edom, and Zidon/Sidon (sister Phoenician city of Tyre).
https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/32-26.htm regarding Meshech & Tubal, click back & forward for the other nations listed.
Category: Assyria
Ezekiel part 2—False Prophets, Wickedness, Destruction vs Repentance
Ezek 4—Ezekiel is to portray the history of Israel’s wickedness, and the destruction of Jerusalem
The Lord has Ezekiel portray the siege of Jerusalem on a tile. He’s to build a fort and a mound against it, and a camp against it with battering rams. He’s to set an iron pan between him and the city to separate himself from the city, and the plight of its destruction.
Ezekiel is to lay on his left side for 390 days, symbolizing the years of the iniquity of the House of Israel, then he’s to lay on his right side 40 days, symbolizing suffering for the iniquity of the House of Judah. These appear to refer to the northern kingdom of Israel, and the southern kingdom of Judah. From the days of Jeroboam, I don’t recall a righteous king of the northern kingdom. The kings of Judah seemed to alternate between good and evil. The kingdom of Judah lasted another 125 years after the northern kingdom was destroyed and carried away by the Assyrians, more or less. King David reigned 40 years, and Solomon reigned 40 years. If we subtract the 80 years of David & Solomon from the 464 of the kingdom of Judah, we have 384 years. But Solomon built temples for the idols of his foreign wives when he was old, so that might account for the discrepancy of about 6 years.
https://bible-history.com/old-testament/kings-israel Kings of Israel reigned 208 years, all evil
https://www.jewishhistory.org/review-of-the-judean-kings/ Judean Kings, abt 464 yrs, both good & evil
About the 40 years: Josiah reigned in righteousness 30 years, and righteous Hezekiah reigned 6 years before Assyria captured the northern kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 18) . . . one might say they suffered for the wickedness of the unrighteous kings of both Israel & Judah. The other 4 years could refer to when wicked Manasseh returned repentant to his kingship in Judah. All this is speculation.
Through the 390 days Ezekiel is to eat 20 shekels’ weight (perhaps abt 10 oz) of bread made with wheat/barley/beans/lentils/millet/fitches (another type of grain). His water allowance was perhaps between 1-2 cups a day. His bread is to be prepared like a barley cake, baked over a fire made with human waste. This would be considered as defiled, and Ezekiel recoils from the idea, as he has kept the Law of Moses strictly all his life. The Lord relents and allows him to use cow “patties” as his fuel. All this is representative of the famine that the people of Jerusalem would suffer while besieged by Babylon for 30 months.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ezekiel/4-10.htm
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ezekiel/4-11.htm
https://bible-history.com/map-babylonian-captivity/timeline-of-events from 612 to 516 BC (in years)
https://www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/antiquities-of-jews/babylon-destroys-jerusalem-temple.html re: Josephus’ account, and notes on the Babylonian attacks on the kingdom of Judah
Ezek 5—the Israelites will suffer for their sins: 1/3 die of famine & pestilence, 1/3 by the sword, 1/3 will be scattered
The Lord tells Ezekiel to shave his head and beard, an extreme cultural taboo for an Israelite. One third of the hair is to be burned, another third is to be cut to bits with a knife, and the last third is to be scattered in the wind. All this is to symbolize the burning of Jerusalem (at the end of the siege), death by the sword of many of the inhabitants, and the scattering/captivity of the rest.
The Lord accuses the inhabitants of Jerusalem of being worse than their neighboring countries, in that while their population has grown more than their neighbors, they have refused to keep the commandments and laws given through Moses. In fact, they have changed the Lord’s laws into wickedness worse than the other nations. In consequence, the Lord will treat them as never before or in future: fathers will eat their sons and sons will eat their fathers (no doubt because of the famine caused by war), those left after the war will be scattered in every direction. Because they have defiled the temple with abominations (idol worship), the Lord will show no pity. A third will die from pestilence and famine, another third will fall by the sword (in battle), and a third will be scattered to the winds and chased by the sword. Thus will they know that the Lord is in charge, and He will find comfort in executing Justice for their misdeeds. The Lord will see their nation wasted, and they will be seen as a reproach/taunt/instruction/astonishment to all their neighboring countries and those who see them.
Ezek 6—a prophecy of the destruction of the idols & worshippers, and the land of Israel; yet a remnant will be saved, captive among the nations, where they will come to know the Lord and be disgusted with themselves for their abominations.
Ezekiel prophecies to the mountains, hills, rivers, and valleys of Israel, that is, to the land of Israel, the destruction of the idols and those who worship them (generally in “high places”). “Then shall ye know that I am the Lord, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols. So will I stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land desolate, yea, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations: and they shall know that I am the Lord.” (This is the only mention of Diblath in the Bible, an unknown place).
The House of Israel will be slain by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. “He that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my fury upon them.” Yet the Lord will save a remnant of Israel, scattered captives among the nations, who will remember Him and loathe themselves for their sins and abominations.
Ezek 7—a reiteration of God’s recompense to the Israelites for their wickedness/abominations
This chapter is seems a poetic one; it doesn’t say anything new, but uses imagery to make the predictions more memorable. An end is come to the 4 corners/quarters of the land of Israel (all the land of the 2 kingdoms, Israel & Judah), the Lord will not have pity on the people, and they will know that it is the Lord that is doing this to them.
Ezekiel uses the image of dawn turning to day, and of a budding tree branch, describing wicked developments and violence in the land. None will express mourning (by wailing) for them. The buyer won’t rejoice in the bargains he finds, the seller won’t bemoan losing money on the deal (as in ordinary commerce): all will feel the wrath of God, and none of them will be able to return to, nor strengthen their financial position through their wickedness.
A trumpet is blown to call the soldiers to battle, but none are able to go (because God has wreaked havoc on them). Warfare is outside the city (any out there are killed by the sword) and famine & pestilence inside. Any who do manage to escape to the mountains will sound like Mourning Doves for their iniquities.
All will have feeble hands and be weak in the knees (see Heb 12:12, and the link below that speaks of paralysis: people will be paralyzed with fear). People will dress in sackcloth (as for mourning), and be in shame (baldness would be considered a state of shame for the people at that time & place).
https://biblehub.com/hebrews/12-12.htm
Gold and silver will be useless to save the people from starvation (because their riches were their stumbling blocks in iniquity, keeping them from turning to God). Their beautiful ornaments they used for idolatry/abominations, so God has taken them away from them and given them to their enemies as spoil (which enemies will pollute them with their own abominations). The conquering enemies will enter the inner recesses of the Temple (which were kept sacred, separate from other nations) and rob them and defile them.
In response to the bloody crimes and violence of the city(ies) of Jerusalem (Judah & Israel), the people will be taken in chains by the worst of the heathen, who will take possession of the Israelites’ houses. The pomp/pride of the powerful will cease, and their holy places will be defiled. Destruction will come, and despite their efforts to find peace/allies, there will be none. One mischief, one rumor (of bad news) will follow another. They’ll seek for help/vision/counsel from prophets, priests, and elders, but none will be able to give them good news. The king and his retinue will mourn and be de-solate (incapable of solace). People will be too troubled to know what to do. The Lord will give them what they deserve, and they will know that He is God.
Ezek 13—vs false prophets, both male & female
2 Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the Lord;
3 Thus saith the Lord God; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! . . .
6 They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith: and the Lord hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word . . .
10 ¶ Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace . . .
17 ¶ Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them . . .
22 Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:
23 Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
Ezekiel reproves the false prophets of Israel for not protecting the nation with Truth, like a hedge or a wall without gaps/holes. The false prophets will be excommunicated from Israel and deleted from their records. When this comes to pass all will recognize the supremacy of God. He likens them to wall builders whose work will be destroyed before it sets up. Whether the storm, winds, and hailstones are figurative or literal, I’m not sure, but the image is what is important: what false prophets build will be destroyed.
Likewise, I’m not sure what the pillows sewn to the armholes of women prophesying falsely, or how the kerchiefs figure, but the important message is that they will be punished for seducing Israel away from the true God. God will at last save His people from the wiles of these cons.
Ezek 14—when people ask for counsel or help from the Lord, He will answer them as they deserve
A group of elders comes to Ezekiel for counsel from the Lord. But the Lord accuses them of setting up idols in their hearts and iniquity before their faces, blocking them from communion with the Lord. The Lord asks, Why should I listen to their inquiries? The Lord will answer them as they deserve:
“Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations . . . [all those who separate themselves from God by setting up idols in his heart, and block themselves from seeing/believing/living for God] . . . I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.”
The Lord says He will destroy false prophets from among His people. “That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord God.”
When a nation sins against God, He will send famine upon them, and noisy carnivores (making people afraid to even pass through the land), or warfare, or pestilence/pandemic. Then though 3 of the greatest prophets were among them (Noah, Daniel, and Job), those 3 would only save their own souls, by their own righteousness. Such is a warning to Jerusalem.
And yet, there will be a remnant that will return, and they will be comforted after all the afflictions the Lord has caused them to suffer. They “shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord God.” In other words, they will come to recognize that God had reason for sending/allowing all these troubles.
Ezek 15—Jerusalem is likened to a woody vine that is useless but for burning as a fuel
The wood of a woody vine is worthless for building useful things. It is tossed in the fire for fuel and is burned. Before it was burned it was useless, and afterward even moreso. The Lord will give Jerusalem to be burned, because its people were just as useless as the woody vine. They will escape one fire to be devoured by another. He will make the land desolate because of their sins, “and ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them.”
Perhaps these words seem harsh, but how often have we seen people who do nothing worthwhile with their potential, but waste their lives and end up destroying themselves and sometimes they take others down with them. How frustrating it must be to God! It’s no use pretending that God doesn’t have emotions, as the scriptures speak of them often.
We have already seen how the Lord judges every individual for the choices s/he makes, and in the end, all will be made right. He offers His mercy to all, as all are given the chance to change/repent/be forgiven. Justice demands consequences for choices: good consequences for good choices (obedience and repentance—both implying humility), and dreadful consequences for disobedience and refusal to repent (both implying self-conceit, egotism, arrogance, insolence and a host of like traits).
Ezek 16—the Lord through Ezekiel likens Jerusalem’s history in terms of a child the Lord rescued and cared for, but she became an adulterous wife, even a whore
Jerusalem was a Jebusite/Amorite city in the land of Canaan. It would appear from the text that it allied itself with the ancient Hittites. Thus, Jerusalem is spoken of as having an Amorite father and a Hittite mother. See Judges 1:21, Deut 7:1, and 1 Chron 1:13-14, Gen 10:16 which list the various peoples living in Canaan before the Israelites.
https://biblehub.com/genesis/10-16.htm
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jerusalem-from-canaanite-city-to-israelite-capital
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-near-eastern-world/who-were-the-hittites/ note that not all academic or scientific theories turn out to be true
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/hittites
Ezekiel writes that Jerusalem was not given the ordinary care that a newborn would get. The Lord saw her, took pity on her, raised her, and took her in a marriage covenant (note the reference to spreading His skirt over her, as Boaz did Ruth, a sign of taking a woman under his protection). He clothed and fed her richly (prospered Jerusalem). But then she/Jerusalem was enamored with her own beauty (prosperity), and played the harlot with anyone passing by (such as neighboring gods). She used her riches for idolatry. She even sacrificed her children to idols. “Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter, That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?” She has forgotten where she came from and who rescued her.
An alternate understanding is that Jerusalem here is used as a symbol of the Israelites or Jews, whom God rescued from Egyptian neglect & abuse.
Now Jerusalem has idols in every street. She prostitutes herself to all, including the Egyptians and/or their gods. The Lord has allowed the Philistines, who hate her, to take out their despite on Jerusalem. Jerusalem played the whore with the Assyrians and the Chaldeans, and still wasn’t satisfied. (Note that Israelite & Jewish kings had sought alliances with the Assyrians & Babylonians, and no doubt brought their gods back to their people).
And yet, the Lord says, Jerusalem was not like a harlot who takes money for her services, but like an adulterous wife, who gives her husband’s gifts to her lovers. Because of this, the Lord will gather all her lovers and bare/shame her before them all. He will treat her as a woman who breaks her wedding vows. Her lovers will break her down, strip her of her goods, leave her destitute. They will stone her and thrust her through with swords. They will burn her houses with fire. “Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord God . . .” Only then will the Lord be quiet and no more angry.
The proverb “As is the mother, so is her daughter” will be used to describe Jerusalem. That is, Jerusalem is like her Hittite mother. She and her sisters, Samaria and Sodom are alike. Since Sodom was destroyed in Abraham’s era, this seems to be calling a city of Ezekiel’s time by that name (probably one that was known for the same indecent behavior as Sodom). Their daughters are probably reference to nearby suburban cities or villages that were settled by, or subject to, them. But Jerusalem is even worse than those cities. Samaria wasn’t guilty of half Jerusalem’s sins. Those cities felt justified in their behavior because of Jerusalem, and that merits even more the condemnation of Jerusalem.
This Sodom and her daughters were guilty of pride/haughtiness, abundance of food, idleness (remember the “Idle hands” proverb), and not caring for their poor, beside their abominable behavior. So the Lord had them carried away captive.
Yet one day, the Lord will bring back Jerusalem and her two sisters. He will make an everlasting covenant with Jerusalem and make her sister cities her daughters, though not of the covenant. That is, Jerusalem will reign over those other cities. Jerusalem will be properly humble, and the Lord will be pacified toward her.
Ezek 17—a riddle/parable: the eagles & the cedars
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord God; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:
4 He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.
5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.
6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs…
Then a 2nd similar eagle comes along. The vine [we might call it a low shrub] shot branches up toward him, hoping the eagle would water her. She was planted in good soil, with good access to water. Then the Lord asks a startling question: will He not pull up the shrub, cut off the fruit [did the branches become a grape vine? Another well-known product of Lebanese hills. He speaks of furrows and agricultural workers.] and let the leaves wither when the hot east wind off the desert comes?
What does the parable mean? Ezekiel is to tell the rebellious House of Israel: the King of Babylon is come to Jerusalem and takes the king and princes back with him to Babylon [represented by the eagle taking the top branches to his city, a city of trade]. The Babylonian king made a covenant, took an oath, of the heir (seed) and the powerful he had taken captive. The Babylonian king would keep these captives low, like vines or shrubbery, but he would allow them to live. However, the Jewish king sent ambassadors to Egypt to ally with him in rebelling against Babylon, breaking his oath.
The Lord declares that the king will die in Babylon, and Pharoah will not come with his armies to rescue the Israelites. The Lord takes the breaking of this oath personally, perhaps because the Jewish king made the oath using God’s name (taking the name of the Lord in vain). Again, the king is to be recompensed for his sins. The Lord uses the metaphors of a net and a snare, which are used in hunting, for capturing the king/kingdom of Judah. In Babylon the Lord will make His case against the Jewish king for his trespass against Him (probably by violating the oath he made in God’s name). And all those who flee against captivity will be killed by the sword, and scattered to the winds. The Lord has spoken it, so it will come to pass.
The Lord seems to be the 2nd eagle, who takes the highest branches from the cedar and plants it in a high/eminent mountain of the land of Israel. There it will bring forth more branches and bear fruit. It will be a goodly cedar, tall enough for all kinds of birds to live in its shadow. All the other trees of the orchard will know that it was the Lord that brought down (humbled) the high tree, and exalted (raised up) the low tree or shrub. He is the One that dried up the greeItn/living tree, and made the dry/dead tree to flourish. “I the Lord have spoken and have done it.” That is, the Lord does what He says.
About the Cedars of Lebanon (a species of pine, which would bear pine cones & nuts)
https://www.greenactitude.com/en/characteristics-and-properties-of-the-cedar-of-lebanon-a-legendary-tree
https://cedarscamps.org/inspiration/article/cedars-of-lebanon/
http://pnwplants.wsu.edu/PlantDisplay.aspx?PlantID=254
Ezek 21—prophecies against Jerusalem/Israel
Ezekiel is to prophesy against Jerusalem (seat of the kingdom of Judah, and at this point, Israel, since the loss of the northern kingdom, “the 10 tribes”). The Lord says He will draw His sword and cut off both the righteous and the wicked. Now after many times saying that each person is judged by his own behavior, and receives the consequences for it, this may seem unreconcilable. Yet in life we know that good people sometimes suffer because of or along with the wicked. We know that children do at times suffer for the mistakes of their parents (remember the Lord warning the wicked that He would punish [or allow the consequences] down to the 3rd & 4th generation). God knows His own mind and purposes, of course, but I have two thoughts on the matter: 1) in the final Judgment, all will be put right, and each person will receive the recompense of their attitudes and behaviors, and 2) though we suffer from the mistakes, even ill treatment of others in this life, when we continue to trust in the Lord, He will help us through them, as he did David who became king of Israel after years of afflictions.
The Lord says He has drawn His sword from its sheath and it will not return any more. We know from other times the Lord has promised that He will quit His anger and deal with Israel in kindness. So this can’t be taken literally. It’s obviously meant to last until He decides enough is enough.
Ezekiel’s sighs in dismay at the things to come will cause people to inquire why he is sighing. His reply is to be that the coming disaster will cause “every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord God.”
Next, the metaphor of a sword being sharpened & polished is to signify the coming conquerors. This sword holds posterity (rods/branches in the family tree) in contempt. There’s no reason to make merry. A picture of the opposite is in the words: crying out, howling, terrified people. The sword will even enter the private rooms of the powerful. When the Lord claps His hands together (as one sees rulers in the movies giving emphasis/immediacy to their orders), either His fury will rest/calm itself, or His fury will rest upon whom He will.
Ezekiel prophesies (at the Lord’s behest) that the Babylonians will come in two routes to attack Jerusalem, beside the Ammonites. The Lord shows the Babylonian king using soothsayers/fortune tellers (who employ animal livers) to decide which way to go. On the one hand (choice) Babylonian armies would use battering rams against Jerusalem, and earthworks, and a fort. But they will consider that a false sign.
The day is come for the contemptuous wicked ruler in Jerusalem. He will lose his crown and diadem (symbols of his authority). He’ll lose his high place, and people considered of low birth will rule instead, until the Messiah, whose right it is to the throne of Israel.
Re: son of man/Son of Man (one could also research and compare when the scriptures speak of a son of a specific person)
https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/21-19.htm uses the word ben for son, scroll down to the Hebrew
https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/28-2.htm uses the word ben, scroll down to the Hebrew
https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/33-12.htm uses the word ben, similarly Ezek 33:2, 44:5, 8:12, 37:16
https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/43-7.htm uses the word ben, scroll down to the Hebrew
https://biblehub.com/matthew/24-30.htm uses the word Huiou, scroll down to the Greek
https://biblehub.com/mark/14-21.htm uses the word Huios, similarly Mark 8:38
https://biblehub.com/luke/9-26.htm uses the word Huios, scroll down to the Greek
https://biblehub.com/john/12-34.htm uses the word Huion, scroll down to the Greek
It is unclear to me in verses 28-32 whether the Lord is talking about the Ammonites in a similar vein as He has just spoken of the Babylonians as the wielders of the burnished/polished sword, or whether He is speaking of them eventually getting their own taste of Babylon’s sword. I think it’s ok to just let it rest, and perhaps at a future time it will become clear. The Lord has enjoined us to study the scriptures essentially on a daily basis all our lives, and that could become either boring or overwhelming if we understood everything all at once. I think it a sign of His genius that He has given us scriptures that require a lifelong study. We must have patience.
Ezek 22—Jerusalem has earned the mocking of herself by nations near and far through her sins, as listed
Jerusalem is called a bloody city for the abominations committed therein:
--idols are made and worshipped
--the princes/elite abuse their position to shed blood, disrespect parents, oppress foreigners (probably people of other nations who live/work in the city), vex the fatherless & widows (probably those who have lost their fathers/husbands in war)
--the people of the city despise what is holy and dishonor the Sabbaths
--people give information to those that shed blood (no doubt similar to snitches/informers to the Mafia), eating upon the mountains refers to idol worship, within the city are those that commit lewdness (could be in worship of idols, or through prostitution, which sometimes are the same)
--there is disregard for the laws of incest in the Law of Moses (the Law of God), such as having sexual relations with a father’s wife or his daughter (not necessarily one’s own mother or her daughter), pressing upon a menstruous woman to have sex (which would be a humiliation to her), committing adultery
--bribes are taken so that the innocent are killed
--interest is charged on debts (forbidden in the Law of Moses)
--ill-gotten gains come by extortion
--in all these things the people have forgotten the Lord and His laws
The Lord requires redress/reparations for these dishonest gains and the bloodshed. The Lord asks poignantly, “Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it.” The people will be scattered among the heathen nations, and Jerusalem will burn like a refiner’s fire.
Rain is given as an image of washing a land clean, but that will not be the case with Jerusalem when the Lord shows His indignation for her (her people’s) sins. Her prophets conspire to devour souls like lions, taking the wealth as their prey and making widows through their policies (possibly referring to corrupting justice and warfare). They pretend to speak for the Lord when He has not spoken through them. Jerusalem’s priests have violated the Law of Moses and disrespected the holy things (of the Temple). In this they have used God’s name in vain. The princes/elites behave like wolves coming in for the kill in order to prosper dishonestly. The people oppress and rob, vex the poor and needy, and mistreat foreigners that live/work among them (probably as low-income labor).
The Lord looked for someone who would turn away His indignation (recall when He said He would spare Sodom from destruction if there were only 10 good people living there). So similarly, the Lord will rain down His wrath upon Jerusalem in requital for the sins her people.
Ezek 23—the 2 Israelite kingdoms are likened to 2 promiscuous, whorish sisters
Samaria (capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, the “10 tribes”) and Jerusalem (capital of the kingdom of Judah, which included the tribe of Benjamin) are likened to 2 sisters that committed whoredoms even in their youth in Egypt.
Samaria played the harlot with her neighbor Assyria (made alliance with Assyria until it was too late). She was so impressed with the finery of Assyria, when Assyria was rising in power, and sought to benefit thereby (Assyria grew rich through trade and then it became a military power, plundering and causing others to pay tribute). Samaria took up the Assyrian gods, who seemed so beneficent, beside the gods of Egypt. So the Lord left her to her lovers, the gods/power of the Assyrians, who exposed and exploited her in conquest and despoil. They took her children captive and destroyed her in warfare. Her fall became famous.
Jerusalem saw all this, and yet became even more corrupt. She also was bedazzled with the wealth and power of Assyria’s neighbor, Babylon/Chaldea. She saw (or heard of) the walls of Babylon on which were depicted all the glories of their empire. She sent embassies to profit from an alliance. She adopted Babylonian gods, which God saw as committing whoredoms with idol worship. Her mind was alienated from God by them, so God alienated Himself from her. Jerusalem, like her sister Samaria, went right back to her behavior in Egypt, going after the idols of that land. It was like breeding donkeys to horses, producing either mules or hinnies (a more horse-like crossbreed).
https://www.helpfulhorsehints.com/hinny-vs-mule-facts/
As Samaria was conquered by Assyria, Jerusalem will likewise be taken by her “lovers”, Babylonians, Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, Koa, and Assyrians (meaning the nations of Mesopotamia). The engines/weapons of war were chariots, wagons, wheels, armies, and armor. The conquerors will cut off noses and ears, killing others. The sons & daughters will be taken captive, and the rest will be consumed when the cities are burned. They will take away their clothes and jewelry as booty. The memory of their sufferings in Egypt will be swallowed up in the afflictions of the Babylonian conquest. The admiration for the empires/kingdoms of Mesopotamia will change to hatred. The Lord will turn the people over to their enemies because Jerusalem/the kingdom of Judah behaved just as foolishly, as abominably as Samaria/the northern kingdom of Israel. It is likened to drinking of the same cup. As her sister was, so Jerusalem will be “laughed to scorn and had in derision . . .” The picture of a depressed drunk is conjured.
The 2 sister kingdoms committed adultery (vs their true husband, the Lord) with their idols, even sacrificing their children to their idols (for which any true husband/father would become incensed). And then in the same day people would come to God’s temple to worship, showing utter contempt/sacrilege toward the Lord’s Sabbaths. The Lord paints a vivid picture of a whore preparing for her lovers. But the righteous will judge her (the whorish wife) for what she is, and she will be dealt with as spoken in the Law (stoning, like when catapults are used in a siege, and other enactments of death). Thus will idolatries be cleansed/cleared away from the land.
All this will cause the people to know/acknowledge that the Lord God is in charge.
Ezek 24—9th year of Zedekiah Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem, parable of the pot, Ezekiel can’t mourn
Near the end of the 9th year (of Zedekiah’s reign in Jerusalem), the Lord tells Ezekiel to note the day as the one in which the king of Babylon decides to come against Jerusalem.
Here’s the parable: a pot of water is set over a fire, and meat & bones are added to it, as if making a stew. Bones are also added to the fire, to get it burning hot and boil the meat. Jerusalem is likened to such a pot wherein the cooked blood rises as scum to the top. The blood should have been poured out on the ground and covered with dirt. Instead, the blood is set on a rock out in plain sight for all to see, to their disgust. After the scummy water is poured out, the pot is to be set on the fire empty in order to burn it out (as one would burn out a Dutch oven over the fire to clean it). But the Lord will not purge the filthiness of Jerusalem until He causes His fury to come upon the city (in full). He affirms in the strongest terms that He will do it.
The Lord tells Ezekiel of the impending death of his wife, the desire of his eyes (that is, the love of his life). But he is not to mourn for her. This would have been truly counter to his culture as well as his feelings. He is not even to shed any tears for her, let alone any of the usual signs of mourning.
People question Ezekiel about not mourning his wife. He explains that the Lord has told him to tell them that the things they hold most dear (the Temple and their children) will be destroyed but they, like Ezekiel, will not be able to mourn them. Instead, they will be mourning their sins (and the sins of the nation). And when it comes to pass, they will know that the Lord knew/caused it to happen. When it happens and a person escapes to tell Ezekiel, then Ezekiel will be able to speak once again.
With what pathos we read, “in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters . . .”
Josiah, his antecedents and heirs, and the prophet Zephaniah
Hezekiah's son and heir Manasseh undid all his reforms, and his grandson continued in that. The nation of Judah seemed hopelessly lost in utter wickedness. Then Josiah is made king at only 8 years of age. He turns his heart to God, purges the kingdom of idolatry, renovates the Temple. The Torah is found therein, and when it is read to him, he is so affected by it that he becomes even more determined to right all the wrongs his predecessors have committed. There was never a king like him! And then his heirs bring ruin, and the kingdom is destroyed and taken captive by Babylon.
Manasseh--heir of Hezekiah, 2 Kings 21:1-18, 2 Chron 33:1-20
“Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem.”
It seems amazing that after all the good that his father Hezekiah did, Manasseh could go so wrong! Was he rebelling like a Bishop’s son? Was he influenced by bad friends? Was he an admirer of the wealth & power of Assyrian kings who reigned in Nineveh, or was he turned by the bribery of Assyrian spies or infiltrators as indicated in Nahum 3? He was only 12, so no doubt he was led by counselors. Did they turn him bad, or did he go bad when he came of age?
Manasseh’s crimes:
1. Abominations of the heathens/Amorites whom the Lord cast out before Israel
2. Built up the high places for idolatrous worship his father had destroyed
3. Reared up altars and a grove for Baal (plural Baalim), like Ahab, king of Israel, who had married Jezebel--such an adversary to Elijah the Prophet
4. Worshipped all the host of heaven (all kinds of false gods), and served them
5. Built altars for all the host of heaven in the Lord’s Temple
6. Made his son/children pass through the fire (burnt him in sacrifice to a false god)
7. Used sorcery
8. Directly rebelled against the instructions of the Lord to Kings David & Solomon, and Moses
9. Led his people astray (“seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel.” And/or coerced them through his power.) It’s one thing to do evil, far worse to seduce/persuade/coerce others to do evil.
10. Filled Jerusalem “from one end to another” with the shedding of innocent blood (probably sacrificing children to idols, but could just as well be killing like the mafia for profit, or both).
The Lord sends prophets to warn about the consequences of Manasseh’s evils. Yet He allows Manasseh a good long reign, so no doubt people failed to take the Lord seriously. The Lord warns that Jerusalem (capital of the kingdom of Judah) will suffer the fate of Samaria (capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, that had been conquered & carried away captive by the Assyrians). They’ll be wiped out like a dirty dish is wiped clean and turned upside down to dry. All the accumulated rebellions since the Exodus from Egypt will come to a reckoning.
2 Chron 33:11-19 says that the Assyrians came and took Manasseh in chains back to Babylon (under Assyrian rule at the time, it seems). Through his afflictions Manasseh humbles himself, repents, and prays for forgiveness. The Lord has mercy on him and Manasseh is reinstated on his throne in Jerusalem. He recognizes the hand of the Lord, rebuilds Jerusalem’s walls and reinforces all the walled cities of Judah with soldiers. He tries to rectify his atrocities by cleaning the idols out of the Temple, repairing the altar, and renewing the worship of God there. He commands his people to serve the Lord God of Israel. The people still sacrificed in the high places (hills outside Jerusalem), but at least it was in worship of the Lord only.
Amon—inherits the kingdom of Judah from his father Manasseh, 2 Kings 21:19-26, 2 Chron 33:20-25
“Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem.”
Amon follows in his father’s wicked footsteps. But his servants conspire and kill him in his own house. The people of the land kill the conspirators and make Amon’s son Josiah king.
Josiah--2 Kings 22-23, 2 Chron 34-36
1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.
2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
Josiah
Age 8—becomes king
+18 yrs—(Josiah age 26; 2 Chron 34 says he was only 16 when he turned to the Lord, and 20 when he
began to purge Judah & Jerusalem from idolatry, 26 when he had the Temple repaired with
monies gathered by the Levites from the remnant of Israel after the Assyrian captivity) Josiah
sends his scribe to Hilkiah the High Priest to give the silver people have offered at the Temple
door to those in charge to have the Temple repaired (no reckoning/oversight was made because
they were honest)
--Hilkiah finds the Torah in the Temple and sends it to King Josiah; when Josiah hears his scribe
read the book, he rends/tears his clothes in anguish:
“Go ye, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words
of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because
our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which
is written concerning us.”
--Hilkiah & a set of envoys go to Huldah the prophetess (wife of the grandson of a court
attendant, who lives in the court complex at Jerusalem). She affirms the prophecies of ill for
Jerusalem for the sins of the people, but because King Josiah is humble and tender-hearted he
will die in peace before the destruction prophesied.
--King Josiah gathers all the elders of the people, then brings them, the priests & prophets, and
the people (small and great) to the Temple and reads the words of the Torah/Covenant to them.
First he covenants to live the Law of God, then the people in turn covenant likewise.
--King Josiah cleans out all the false gods & vessels of their worship from the Temple and has
them burned at Kidron, the ashes taken to Bethel. He puts down all the priests of false worship.
He breaks down the houses of the sodomites next to the Temple (a hint of the kind of idol
worship that had gone on). He defiles all the places of idol worship throughout Judah, including
where people had sacrificed their children in the fire to Molech. He clears away the horses &
chariots offered to the sun god, and stamps to dust the idolatrous altars King Ahaz & Manasseh
had made in the Temple. He defiles with bones the high places King Solomon had built to
Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Milcom, for his foreign wives. Likewise he destroys the places of false
worship King Jeroboam had long ago created when he separated the northern tribes of Israel
from the kingdom of Judah, and all the houses of false worship in Samaria and their priests. He
purges the idols from the cities of the tribes of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, & Naphtali as well.
--King Josiah calls a great Passover celebration, the greatest since the days of the Judges
--King Josiah puts away all the sorcerers and their like
--"And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and
with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose
there any like him.”
Age 39—King Josiah is killed in battle at Megiddo when the Egyptian Pharoah goes against Assyria, even
to the river Euphrates (more details 2 Chron 35:20-27, including Jeremiah’s lament for him) Perhaps he should not have involved his people in a fight that would embroil them in the conflict of the contemporary superpowers, Egypt & Assyria. Let them fight their own battles.
The Book of Zephaniah
“The word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.”
The book of Zephaniah is only 3 chapters long. It is full of dire warnings of the destruction of Judah & Jerusalem, and their neighbors of the Near East. Maybe his prophecies had some effect on Josiah’s reforms. In chapter 3 hope is held out, Zeph 3:9-20
13 The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
14 ¶ Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
15 The Lord hath taken away thy judgments [the calamities brought on by thier wickedness], he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.
Josiah’s heirs--2 Kings 23:30-24:16, 2 Chron 36:1-10
Josiah’s 23 year old wicked son Jehoahaz is anointed by the people as his successor. He only reigns 3 months when Pharaoh-hechoh imprisons him in Egypt (where he eventually dies), installs his likewise wicked 25 year old brother Eliakim (whom he renames Jehoiakim) as a puppet king, and forces Judah to pay a heavy tribute. Jehoiakim reigns 11 years. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, carries him and the treasures of Temple, “all” of Jerusalem (the princes, military, craftsmen: 10,000 people) to Babylon, leaving only the poorest people in the land. Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin, only 8 years old, then evilly reigns for 3 months (no doubt with wicked influencers), before he is also carried away captive into Babylon with more treasures from the Temple. King Nebuchadnezzar makes his brother Mattaniah (renamed Zedekiah), age 21, king in his place.
The Book of Nahum–prophecy against Nineveh, capital of Assyria
Nahum 1—" The burden of Nineveh [Assyria]. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.”
“God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.”
Is God jealous & vengeful? We don’t consider jealousy and vindictiveness good, so how could God be the ultimate Good if that’s His character? Some have translated the Hebrew as “avenging”, which gives a different connotation in today’s language. Commentators have used “jealous” in terms of a protective spouse/relative. The idea is that God provides consequences for actions, those of our enemies as well as ourselves, and he doesn’t just wimp out in carrying them through. He is firm in His resolve and keeps His word. Note that v. 3 says He is slow to anger as well as great in power. He doesn’t act by whim or arbitrariness. He does get angry over injustice and cruelty (Assyrian warfare was known for its cruelty). If one in authority doesn’t punish wickedness, s/he can hardly be called Just. Offering Mercy & Forgiveness is Just only when it is justified by repentance, and Justice requires Mercy for the truly penitent (because we are all human, and none of us is free from sin, only through an everlasting Atonement God promised from the beginning). Again and again God offered forgiveness and mercy to those who would turn or return to Him from their evil/wicked ways. See
https://biblehub.com/nahum/1-2.htm scroll to the bottom for Hebrew text & translations
This chapter emphasizes God’s power, and the key is in v. 13—God promises that He will break the yoke of Assyria (and all the wicked) from off Israel (and all God’s chosen: those that choose Him). Because He is all-powerful, He can and will do it, they could be assured of that then, and we can be assured of that now.
“Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.” Compare Isa 52:7 and Romans 10:15 (Paul quotes Isaiah).
Nahum 2—still regarding Nineveh/Assyria
The chapter begins in descriptions of war: the dashed children, munitions, strong warriors, emptied cities, destroyed vineyards, bloodied shields & men, flames of torches to set cities on fire, trees cut down (for seige engines), chariots racing through the streets, the wounded stumbling and others running for life or to defend the walls. The gates let in a river of attackers, and the palace is destroyed. Captives taken (especially women). Nineveh has been a well-watered city from ancient times, but her defenders will flee. The officers call to their men to stand and fight, but the soldiers run without looking back. The conquering army pillages the spoils of the city. The city is left empty but for the fearful and trembling, sorrowful remnants. Nineveh’s symbols were lions, but where is their fierceness & strength now? The old and the young of the city were protected and fed, but no longer. (Interestingly, in every documentary I’ve seen it is the female lions that do the hunting and providing of food, the alpha male was given first choice of the meat. It was his duty to protect the pride, though.) The Lord will destroy Nineveh.
Nahum 3—Nineveh’s destruction decreed because of her wickedness
Nineveh’s wickedness: lies, robbery, oppression (noise of the whip), wealthy apparently killing people and riding over their corpses with disdain or no notice, whoredoms, witchcraft, bribing people to sell their nations out. The merchants are as numerous as the stars; they are like cankerworms that consume the fruit (the trade goods) and then fly away. The ruling and military classes are numerous as locusts, a pestilence that the lower/working classes must support, but they disappear when it’s time for them to do their jobs.
The Lord’s consequences for Nineveh: the wickedness of the city will be exposed, and the city will be shamed. Nobody will bemoan the destruction of Nineveh. Like Egypt & Ethiopia were conquered, so will Nineveh/Assyria. Her strongholds/forts/strong cities will be consumed like ripe figs when the tree is shaken. The inhabitants of the cities will be as weak as women (untrained for warfare), and the defenses of the land will be like open gates. Despite preparations for siege (storing water, fortifying the walls, etc), the cities will be burned, destroyed as cankerworms destroy plants. The shepherds slumber (in death), the nobles lie in the dust (dead). The rest of the people are scattered, and no one can gather and organize them against the attackers. There will be no healing of the Assyrian Empire, and all who hear about her destruction will clap in approval, for they have all suffered from Assyrian wickedness continuously.
With Nahum’s seeming detailed knowledge of the wickedness of Nineveh, one might suspect/speculate he might have been one of the Israelites who had been carried away captive by the Assyrians. Some historical background of the city:
https://www.britannica.com/place/Nineveh-ancient-city-Iraq
https://www.worldhistory.org/nineveh/ includes a 2.5 min video re-creation of the ancient city
https://scripturescript.wordpress.com/2023/04/06/the-books-of-jonah-amos-hosea/ book of Jonah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pa54hWROpQ&ab_channel=TED-Ed 5 min video about Assyria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpAphcaVJIs&ab_channel=FallofCivilizations 3 hour video about Assyria
Isaiah–part 3, chapters 36-50
Isa 36—39 Hezekiah chapters; comp 2 Kings 18-20 & 2 Chron 32
“Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.”
The Assyrian army is at the gates of Jerusalem. The Assyrian commander calls out to warn/threaten Hezekiah. Hezekiah’s cabinet officers tell him to speak his own language, rather than the Jewish language, but he wants all Hezekiah’s people to hear his words, weaken their resolve. He says, Don’t rely on Egypt for help, nor on your God. Egypt is worthlessly weak/broken, and it’s your God that has sent me against you. Have any of the gods of other nations saved them? We’ll give you 2000 horses if you can find that many riders. He tells Hezekiah’s forces that if they come and make a deal with the Assyrians they can go home and enjoy their own lands until they are taken away captive to live in a land just like their own, with plenty of resources.
About Rabshakeh, the Assyrian commander:
https://www.gotquestions.org/Rabshakeh-in-the-Bible.html
Hezekiah rips his clothes in signification of his alarm/trepidation, and goes in sackcloth to the Temple. He sends for Isaiah. He hopes that the Lord will be incensed at the blasphemous words of the Assyrian commander and come to Judah’s aid. Isaiah says, Don’t worry about him. I’ll send trouble to Assyria, and their armies will go home. The Assyrian king will be killed in his own land.
Rumors of trouble reach the Assyrian commander, and he leaves with his army, sending a threatening letter to Hezekiah, reminding him of the cruel devastation of Assyrian conquest, and that none of the gods of the other nations saved them from Assyria. Hezekiah puts the letter before the Lord in the Temple and prays for his people. He says, Yes, Assyria has wiped out all the nations with their gods, but they were handmade gods. Lord, save us, so “all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only.” Isaiah replies to the Assyrian threat, and tells those left of the House of Israel that the Assyrians will not be a threat to them any longer: God will protect them. For 2 years they’ll eat volunteer crops, then plant in the 3rd year, and they will be prospered. The Lord wipes out the Assyrian army besieging Jerusalem overnight (185,000). King Sennacherib of Assyria goes back to Nineveh, and is assassinated by his sons as he worships his god.
While the Assyrians were still a threat, Hezekiah becomes deadly ill with a boil. Isaiah comes to tell him to put his house in order for his death. Hezekiah turns to God & pleads for his life. The Lord sends Isaiah back to Hezekiah answering that he will live yet another 15 years. Isaiah has them make a plaster of figs to put on Hezekiah’s boil. As a sign of His promise, the Lord causes the shadow on the sundial (king Ahaz had installed in Jerusalem) to go back 10 degrees. Hezekiah writes a poetic thanks to God.
Hezekiah is feeling blessed, feeling good. When the Babylonian king sends an ambassador to congratulate him on his recovery of health, Hezekiah shows off all he has. Isaiah tells him that was a foolish thing to do, and prophesies of the Babylonian captivity. Hezekiah accepts the Lord’s decision but is grateful it isn’t to happen until after he is gone.
Isa 40—one of the most beautiful chapters of the Bible, and part of the text for Handel’s “Messiah”:
“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned”
“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”
“O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!”
“He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.”
The whole chapter is so great! And here is just one of God’s promises, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Isa 41—God promises His help to the House of Israel, He is their Redeemer; God calls Abraham His friend.
Verses 1-7 are challenging as written in the King James Version. They make more sense when going back to the Hebrew. God addresses the Isles/lands, inviting them to come together to testify, to seek judgment. God righteously called the conqueror from the East (Assyria) and gave him power to pound the nations into dust. From the beginning God has been in charge, first and last. The conquered lands saw this and trembled with fear, but they help and encourage one another, “Be strong!” (Alternatively, the conqueror from the east might be Babylon, that would overthrow the Assyrian Empire) See
https://biblehub.com/isaiah/41-1.htm and links for following verses.
Verses 15-19 use an agricultural motif to reassure the people of Israel that He will hear their cries for help, bring water to the dry land and reforest the wilderness. Verses 21-29 are a challenge for anyone to show that they knew ahead of time what was going to happen.
Highlights of Isa 41: the Lord calls Abraham His friend, He reminds the descendants of Jacob/Israel that He has chosen them and will not cast them off, and tells them, “Don’t be afraid!”
8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
10 ¶ Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. [comp Joshua 1:9, etc]
13 For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
Isa 42—God’s promise to Isaiah, His servant
In this chapter God alternately speaks positively, and negatively.
God promises to uphold His servant, whom He has chosen (elected), and in whom He delights. He has put His spirit on His servant to teach righteous judgment to the Gentiles (non-Israelites/non-Jews). His servant will not have to yell to be heard. He won’t have to be tough to bring out the truth. He won’t fail or be discouraged. The lands (see link for Isa 41:1) will await to hear him teach the law of the Lord.
God speaks directly to Isaiah, “Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.” Comp Matt 4:16 and Luke 4:16-19.
God tells Isaiah that what he has spoken before (through him) is now happening. God will tell Isaiah more to come before they happen. God has put up with bad behavior for a long time, but now He is going to cry out like a woman in childbirth. He will destroy the land of His people. Those who trusted in idols will be ashamed. He asks rhetorically, Who is blind, that is my servant? (In other words, God’s servants are not blind or deaf.) The Lord is pleased with the righteous, and will make His law great and honored. But His people have been despoiled and robbed, imprisoned and trapped by Him because of their sins, their refusal to walk in God’s ways and obey His law. And still, His people have not taken the consequences of their behavior to heart.
10 Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.
11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.]
12 Let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare his praise in the islands.
16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.
Isa 43—Jacob is (his descendants are) to be redeemed
God promises that He will be with the Children of Israel as they must wade through deep waters, or walk through fire, that they will not be drowned nor burned. He saved them at the price of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sheba in their history. The Children of Israel were precious to Him, He loved them, and will pay the price of other nations for their sake in future. He will gather them from the east, the west, the north, and the south. He will bring them back from the ends of the earth—all those that were called by God’s name (His people), for He created them for His glory. Let everyone from every nation come together, and who of them could predict or believe any of this? But by these prophesies you can know God’s servant whom He has chosen, and that there was never any God before Him, nor any after Him. God says, “I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour . . . and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?” In other words, when God does something, no one can undo it.
God has taken down Assyria via the Babylonians and the Chaldeans. The Assyrian Empire is extinguished and will not rise again. You can forget the past, He says, I will renew your land. And yet, you don’t call on Me. You are weary/tired of Me. You don’t bring me offerings. I blotted out your transgressions, and will not remember your sins [recall Isa 1:18]. But your leaders and teachers have misled and mis-taught you. Thus I pronounce the priests, heirs of the Temple duties, profaned, and Jacob/Israel cursed and reproached.
Isa 44—God is the only real God, the rise and shepherding of Cyrus is foretold
This chapter begins with poetic parallelisms: Jacob = Israel, and Jacob = Jesurun. Made = formed. “Chosen” is repeated in both verses 1 & 2. Verse 3: pouring water on the thirsty = flooding dry ground. Pouring out His spirit on Jacob’s seed = blessing his offspring. And so it continues. One says he is the Lord’s = another calls himself by the name of Jacob (who was chosen by God to father the chosen people). One signs his name, so to speak, “the Lord’s”, and gives himself the surname of Israel/Jacob (who was chosen).
The Lord sets out a rhetorical challenge for anyone to claim having chosen Israel from days of old and prophesied of things to come. Don’t fear = don’t be afraid. Haven’t I said so? You know I have. “Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.” That is, there is no other God than the Lord. All these idols made by human hands are worthless, and those that make them will be ashamed/embarrassed at their folly. Isaiah uses figures of speech from forging and carpentry (both used in making idols). The same wood that is used for heat, and cooking is used to make an idol that people worship, and with what irony the worshipper calls on this idol to deliver him! No one seems to see the ridiculousness of it.
Then the Lord calls on the Israelites to remember Him, for He certainly will not forget them. God has wiped out their transgressions and sins, paid the price for them (as someone would pay for damages in a legal suit . . . anciently that would be buying one out of slavery imposed for malfeasance). He calls on the earth itself to sing out for joy in the goodness of God in redeeming the Israelites. God is the Creator of all. He makes liars of those who profess the power to divine the future. God will establish the validity of His servants/prophets that Judah and Jerusalem will once again be inhabited and built up again. God is powerful enough to command the ocean and rivers to dry up. He will raise up Cyrus (of Persia) as a shepherd to His people, who will command the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple.
Isa 45—the Lord speaks to Cyrus, God’s anointed future ruler of Persia, reiterates that He alone is God
God will be behind the rise of Cyrus, for the sake of the Israelites, despite Cyrus not knowing Who is behind his success. “I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me,” God proclaims. While the 10 commandments forbid worshipping other gods before Him, He is making clear that there aren’t any other gods beside Him. Those who deny God are as ludicrous as a pot or a piece of clay asking the potter what he’s doing/making, or claiming the potter has no hands. Can a person deny he has parents? In so many words God takes credit for Cyrus’ ascendancy. He foretells that Cyrus will let the captive Israelites return, rebuild the city, without any “payoff”. God will give Cyrus the labor of Egypt, the trade goods of Ethiopia, and Sabean soldiers: they will all acknowledge God’s power behind him. Idol makers (and worshippers) will be ashamed. God is the only God, He has been clear about that. He is Just/Righteous and offers Salvation. Eventually everyone will have to acknowledge who God is, and the right of His servants. “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”
Isa 46—to the House of Jacob: I have always been your God and taken care of you; I AM the only God
Poor animals had to carry the heavy idols of Bel and Nebo, yet those idols not only couldn’t deliver their worshippers, they themselves were taken captive.
Listen to me, o House of Israel! From the womb to old age/the grave I [God] will take care of you. Who do you think is my equal? People spend gold and silver to hire an idol maker. They set up the idol and worship it, call on it for help. But the idol can’t answer nor save its worshipper. “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring [prophesying] the end [outcome] from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure . . . I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it,” God promises.
Isa 47—prophesy of the future of Babylon
The Lord prophesies the inglorious end of Babylon. Instead of honor, Babylon/Chaldea will be considered as a woman demeaned by poverty and the necessity of prostituting herself. God says He used Babylon to punish His people for polluting their inheritance, and Babylon thought she would be a lady forever, never a widow, nor lose her children. But both these will occur in a day, because of her sorceries and enchantments. Babylon trusted in wickedness, and thought she could keep it a secret. But her downfall is coming, and she doesn’t know from where. Go ahead and try your enchantments and sorceries, if you think they will help you prevail. Let all your astrologers just try to save you, God says. They won’t be able to save themselves from the flame, nor your merchants that brought you to power through trade. They will desert you.
Isa 48—to the House of Jacob, from God, who is first & last the only true God, who will save Israel
You say you are the Holy City, and trust in God. From days of old have come the prophesies, as well as what would be soon to occur, because I [God] knew you were stubborn. I showed you what would happen far in advance, lest you would say your idol did it. I showed you new things lest you would say you already knew them. You have been a treacherous traitor to me in both.
But I’m going to put off being angry with you or destroying you. Your troubles will be a refining fire. I’m not doing it for your sake, but for Mine: so My name will be recognized and glorified. I am the Creator and the Cause/Person in Charge. Come together and listen—the Lord loves those who tell His truths. Isaiah testifies that it is God (by His Spirit) that has called him, sent him, and given him his errand, truths to tell. God will bring all he has spoken to pass. Israel will return from Babylon with joy and singing that the Lord has redeemed him, as when He brought Israel out of Egypt. And yet, “There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.”
17 Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:19 Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.
Isa 49—Isaiah was called as a prophet to Israel & to the world from his mother’s womb
Isaiah bids the people of the earth to realize that from his mother’s womb he was called to be a prophet, speaking as sharply as a sword, and as “on target” as an arrow. The Lord cares for him as a warrior would keep his weapons.
In discouragement Isaiah says he has labored in vain, and used up his strength for nothing. In other words, he feels like his work is uselessly unsuccessful. And yet God knows he has tried. But then the Lord comforts him, in that though Israel won’t be gathered in his time, the Lord offers him strength and honor. It’s nothing for him to serve Israel, for he will also be a light to the Gentiles and all the world.
But then the Lord promises the gathering of Israel. “Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.” Though Zion (God’s people) feel forsaken and forgotten, God would never forget her. As unlikely as it is for a woman to forget her infant, or to not love her child, yet they might forget--God will never forget. It’s as if Israel is written on His hands and walls—they are continually before Him.
When Israel is gathered she will wonder where all her children came from (since they were all destroyed & scattered). The kings and queens of the earth will bring them . . . “and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.” The Lord asks rhetorically if the prey can be taken from the strong, or the captives delivered. The Lord will deliver them, He will save them. He will give their oppressors their own medicine, “and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.”
Isa 50—our own sins divorce us from God; God has the back of Isaiah/His people
The Lord asks, Where are your mother’s divorce papers? To whom have I sold you?, referring to the culture of the times when a man could divorce a woman and sell her children into slavery if he was unhappy with her (especially for adultery). But instead of the Lord selling them or divorcing their mother, the Israelites have sold themselves into slavery for their wickedness, and such have divorced their mother from God, so to speak. (Wickedness is slavery, see John 8:34; Rom 6:18-23)
Where was everyone when I came, and no one answered my call? the Lord asks. Do you think I can’t save/redeem you? The Lord then gives examples of His power.
Isaiah credits the Lord with his speaking and writing abilities. He says it’s the Lord that keeps waking him, giving him the words to say. Yet Isaiah was willing to listen, and to do the Lord’s bidding. He has put up with abuse, because he knows the Lord is backing him. Who wants to have a face-off with Isaiah? Bring them on! The Lord will help him, and no one can put him down. Anyone who fears the Lord and obeys the voice of His servants will not walk in darkness without a light. Let him trust in the Lord, and put his affairs in His hands. Those who think they can light their own path can walk in the sparks they kindle, but they will lie down in sorrow.
Isaiah–part 2, chapters 11-35
Isa 11—a Savior descendant of Jesse (King David’s father) & a Messianic age
A branch will shoot forth from the trunk of Jesse (the idea is restated as a poetic device).
2 And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;
3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
A Messianic age of peace will be ushered in. (Poetic parallelisms paint an ideal of peace).
Wolf dwells with lamb
Leopard lies down with kid (goat)
Fatted calf & young lion
A child will lead them
Cow & bear feed together, lion will eat grains like an ox (note zoo & pet foods are plant based)
A nursing infant will play on the hole of the asp
A toddler will put his hand on the home of a cockatrice (fabled serpent)
And yet none of these will be hurt in God’s country, for the whole earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, like the oceans cover most of the earth.
The Messiah will stand like a banner, and the people of the world will seek him, and in him find glorious rest (respite from violence). In that era the Lord will recover the remnant of his people from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros (upper Egypt), Cush (south of Egypt), Elam (Iran), Shinar (Babylon/Southern Mesopotamia), Hamath (a Syrian city), and the islands of the [Mediterranean=in the midst of the lands] sea . . . from every corner of the earth (note the description of the earth as having 4 corners is meant as a language device, not a literal belief about the shape of the earth—the ancients were just as capable as we, perhaps even moreso, of metaphoric thinking. We still reference the cardinal directions of earth as north, south, east, and west: 4). The adversarial relationship between the kingdoms led by the tribes of Ephraim & Judah will be allayed, and they will work together against their enemies. It appears that Egypt will be wiped out and the Nile delta will be dried up. The Children of Israel will make a highway from Assyria back to their land, as they made when they arrived from Egypt in the Exodus.
Isa 12—Israel will praise God for saving the nation from annihilation
1 And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.
2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.
3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
4 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.
5 Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.
6 Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.
Isa 13-14—a prophetic burden, bad news for Babylon
With what powerful poetic language the Lord through Isaiah paints a picture! The Lord calls His holy & mighty ones against Babylon with a banner & a voice from a far country, and they are as a multitude upon the mountains. All will be faint with fear, the sky will be darkened (probably from the smoke of burning cities). So many men will be killed those left will be a precious “commodity”. Everyone will flee to their own lands (no doubt people from many lands served in the seat of Babylon as soldiers, courtiers, and bureaucrats). Men, women, and children will die horrible deaths. Babylon will be overthrown as completely as Sodom & Gomorrah, and left uninhabited from one generation to the next, except for wild beasts and nomads who will camp there.
About the Medes:
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/medes-and-media
A message for us as well as them:
“And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.”
“For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to [embrace] the house of Jacob.”
In the year King Ahaz of Judah died came this prophecy:
The allies of the Jews will bring them back to their land, and the captors of the Jews will become their captives, “and they shall rule over their oppressors. And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve”.
A proverb vs Babylon: How hath the oppressor ceased (been stopped)! The wealthy city is gone! The Lord has broken the rule of the oppressor who thrashed/clobbered and ruled the nations in anger (harshness). Now the whole earth is at peace and quiet, and sings in relief. Isaiah uses the metaphor of trees glad that the clearer of forests is gone and none is come to replace him. He uses the picture of Hell being disturbed, making way for Babylon among all the kings there. They taunt him that he is no better than they: you thought you were so great, like a god. Is this the guy who made other nations tremble with fear, destroyed them and made them all like wilderness? They ask in derision. Other kings have been buried honorably, but you will be disrespected, your heirs killed.
Verse 25 suddenly inserts Assyria instead of Babylon. This could be a parallelism, likening the two to each other, or a combining of the two as nations of Mesopotamia, or a different “chapter”. The siege of the Assyrian army is the one that departed from Jerusalem, and Assyrian warfare was even more brutal than that of Babylon. Note in verse 24 that what the Lord intends or proposes to do He will accomplish.
But the Lord warns the nations of Palestine not to get too cocky, because evil/bad news is yet to come: famine and the sword (warfare). The poor will have food and safety because they are the only ones left after the people considered more important (the wealthy & skilled) are taken captive, only the poor are left. The smoke coming from the north refers to the aggression of conquerors from the north (who would, no doubt, burn city after city, causing smoke). When the corrupt leaders of the Jews (or any nation) are gone, the poor of God’s people will be able to trust in the Zion that the Lord has founded.
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north [the most honored seating]:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High [God].
More info about these verses at https://biblehub.com/isaiah/14-12.htm
Isa 15 & 16—dire prophecies about Moab
Isa 17—fateful prophecy for Damascus (Syria), & a few comments toward the posterity of Jacob/Israel
Isa 18—prophecy of woe for a land beyond Ethiopia, as well as Jerusalem
Isa 19 & 20—prophecy of bad news for Egypt, followed by conversion to the Lord
Isa 21—Elam & Media vs Babylon, which will fall (a prophet is described as a watchman)
Isa 22—Isaiah mourns for Jerusalem (famous quote: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die)
And a particular prophecy of the fall of one man (the treasurer) and the rise of his successor
Isa 23—vs Tyre & Zidon (they may flee to Tarshish/Spain or Chittim/perhaps Cyprus). Tyre & Sidon were Phoenician cities on the Mediterranean coast, wealthy from shipping and trade, establishing trading colonies all around the Mediterranean. For more info, see https://phoenician.org/phoenician_history/ click links
Isa 24—it seems to Isaiah that the Lord has laid waste to the whole earth (prophetic tense, as if the future has already happened), “The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.” “The pit” would be a place for prisoners.
Isa 25—Isaiah praises God so beautifully (read the chapter!), foretells good for Jerusalem
6 ¶ And in this mountain [Zion] shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
7 And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations . . .
8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.
9 ¶ And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Isa 26—A song to be sung in the future: God brings Justice for the poor & the upright
Trust in the Lord, Isaiah pleads. He will bring down the proud and the oppressors. (Comp. Mary's faith in and praise for God in Luke 1:50-55) The poor & needy will walk over the high & mighty. “Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” Even when the wicked are shone favors, they still continue in their ways, and don’t learn any better. Isaiah continues the theme of a woman in childbirth, the pain that must be endured before the joy.
Isa 27—The Lord will save Israel from her enemies, and one day Israel will worship the Lord again
The Lord will punish the sea serpent Leviathan. See https://biblehub.com/isaiah/27-1.htm
The Lord will care for & tend Israel like a cherished vineyard. The briars & thorny brush are nothing to the Lord, who will burn them.
Has the Lord been as hard on Israel as upon her enemies? (A rhetorical question). The bad part of the Lord’s “vineyard” will be purged by the rough metaphorical (prob hot, dry) windstorms from the east. By that foreign invasion will the altars, groves, and idolatrous images be destroyed. The cities will be destroyed such that cattle will feed in them. The Lord will not show mercy on those ignorant/foolish worshippers of idols. The Lord will yet call the Children of Israel from Assyria and from Egypt, and they will worship the Lord on the Temple mount in Jerusalem.
Isa 28—woe to Ephraim, and the drunken partiers of both the northern & southern kingdoms
Quotable verse: “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little . . . But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little;” in the context of the people refusing to believe what is in store for them: “Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge [invading armies] shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves”. The Lord through Isaiah makes a promise: “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste [be on the run].” Isaiah uses the metaphors of building, a small bed, and farming for God’s Judgment/Justice and Wisdom.
Isa 29—woe to Ariel, the city of David (Jerusalem)
Quotable verse: “And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust” foretelling the destruction of God’s people, and all that’s left is their voice from the grave (the books left behind).
Interesting for readers of the Book of Mormon is the prophecy “Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire” which was written about the destructions in America at the time of Christ’s death. And the verses following about a sealed book that the educated could not read, and the uneducated felt inadequate to read. The verses about the hypocrisy of the religious and a marvelous work to come forth is oft quoted regarding the foundation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as those about the conspirators who work in the shadows to try to destroy God’s work. One day the spiritually deaf and blind will be enlightened, the poor & meek will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel .
Those who fight against God’s people will one day be like a dream that passes away, yet leaves one hungering. “It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.” The ferocious will become nothing, those who scorn God will be destroyed, those that watch for opportunities to aggrandize themselves at the expense of others will be cut down. Those who try to entrap warning voices by twisting their words against them, as well as corrupting Justice for something worthless is so reminiscent of Jesus’ experience, as well as the prophets before Him, and pretty well the warning voices of any age. But the time will come when the God who saved Abraham will take away the shame and fear that has been thrust upon the posterity of Jacob/Israel. Those who recognize God’s hand in it will hold Him in holy awe. “They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.”
Isa 30-31—woe to those who rely on Egypt as an ally, without consulting the Lord
Woe to those who think they can get away with their sins by allying themselves with Egypt (vs the Assyrians & later the Babylonians), rather than repenting. Egypt sees no profit in helping them out, and will be ashamed of attempts to do so.
Isaiah’s prophecies are to be written in books so that those from the future can witness the truth of his words and warnings. The children of Israel are like rebellious, lying children. “Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: [get out of the way and stop talking about God].” Because you despise God’s word, and trust in oppressing others and depend on your own perversity, you’ll be destroyed like a besieged city whose walls are breached, or a pot burst in the fire and broken into such small pieces that it is useless. You could be saved by returning to God, but you refuse. You figure you can get out of town quick, and so you will have to, and all that will be left of you will be your empty ineffective call to arms (metaphorically a flag or beacon).
But the Lord will wait patiently and will have mercy “for the Lord is a God of [righteous] judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.” Those who dwell in Jerusalem will weep no more. When you cry to Him, He will hear and answer. Though now your lives are filled with adversity and affliction, at long last those that teach righteousness and the way to walk therein will no more be relegated to a corner. You will cast off idolatries like a menstruous cloth (In the days before women’s products, they had to more or less diaper themselves. These cloths would be extremely detested.) And then the Lord will send rain for your crops, and bless your grounds. Your animals used in agriculture will be well fed. Your mountains and hills will be well watered with rivers and streams (when once the conquerors are done). The lights in the sky will seem brighter when the Lord heals the breaches in your walls and the wounds you carry. The Lord will take retribution on Assyria, and you will again sing and pipe with the gladness of a holy feast.
The Egyptians are mere mortals, and their horses (military might) are as well. The Lord is all powerful. He is like a lion against shepherds, fearless in fighting for Jerusalem. He is as invulnerable to capture as birds that fly away, and He will deliver Jerusalem from captivity. Turn back to God, from whom you have revolted, and when you throw away your idols He will cause the downfall of Assyria.
Isa 32—A Righteous King to come and warnings of destruction to careless women before then
1 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.
2 And a man [the Messiah] shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest [troubles]; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
3 And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.
4 The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.
5 The vile person shall be no more called liberal [generous], nor the churl said to be bountiful [generous].
6 For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
7 The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right . . .
15 Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
16 Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
18 And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places . . .”
Isa 33—A prophecy of faith and hope, despite difficulties
Prophecies of good alternate with prophecies of war in this chapter. I’ll collect the bad & the good separate.
Woe to those who treat others cruelly when they have not been treated that way. As silkworms (caterpillars) are gathered, the best of the booty will be plucked & carried off. The plundering will be like locusts attacking, mowing down the crops. The toughest & bravest soldiers will cry out in fear/pain, the ambassadors seeking peace will weep bitterly for the impossibility of success. The highways will be empty, with no travel for trade or pleasure. The covenant between God and Israel is broken, and He despises their cities and pays no attention to their calls for help.
Lebanon, known for its timber, will be ashamed of its baldness. Sharon, known for fruitfulness will be like a wilderness. Bashan & Carmel, hill country known for their vineyards (I think) will be left without their vines. Like chaff and the stubble left after harvest, like lime in the making of cement, and thorny brush, the wicked will be burned. Listen, far and wide, to what the Lord has done, and acknowledge his power. Sinners are suddenly afraid, and hypocrites surprised: who will survive the burning? . . .
The wicked will be terrified. His accountants (scribes) & receivers of goods, and storage towers are gone.
“O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble . . . And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the Lord is his treasure.” Once the old is destroyed, people will once again look up to the Lord.
Who will survive the metaphoric (and real wartime) burning of the wicked? Only those who walk and speak (conduct their lives) uprightly: those who despise oppressing others for gain, that wave away bribes, that refuse to listen to plans for prospering through killing, and close their eyes to the temptations of ill-gotten gains (reminds one of mafia tactics). Those are the ones who will find protection and defense from God (rocks would be used as ammunition, bread and water essential staples in wartime and siege). These are the ones who will see that future king coming in beauty, and the peaceful land over which he reigns. They won’t see those fierce, conquering warriors of foreign speech they can’t understand.
Look at Zion/Jerusalem, and see a peaceful place to live and worship, that will not be destroyed by war. The Lord will make His people like a place with broad rivers and streams, where no war ships (which were powered by oars in those days) come. The tackling of the metaphorical or real war ships is made ineffectual, and they don’t capture their prey. “For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us.” Though His people seem lame, they will win the war. They will no longer feel sick (weak, despondent), the inhabitants of God’s country will be forgiven their iniquities.
Isa 34—The Lord’s warning to all nations
Bozrah is the name of an Edomite city, as well as a city of Moab (descendants of Lot). Idumea was also an area controlled by Edom (descendants of Esau). See https://bibleatlas.org/idumea.htm
For info about unicorns mentioned in the Bible, see https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-unicorn.html Cormorants are various species of aquatic birds. All these refer to the lands of Israel’s enemies becoming wilderness (similar to a wildlife reserve in our day). While satyrs in Roman mythology were half man half goat, Isaiah was probably referring to a rough haired wild goat. See https://www.biblestudytools.com/encyclopedias/isbe/satyr.html
Although these verses refer specifically to Edom, they may be considered a cautionary tale to all who fight against Zion, the Lord’s people.
Isa 35—Good things are promised to God’s country & people
The desert will blossom as a rose. (Regarding Lebanon, Carmel, & Sharon, see Isa 33 above).
Weak hands and feeble knees will be strengthened (metaphorically, physically)
The fearful of heart can be strong, unfearing. Know that God will save you.
The eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf unstopped (those who couldn’t see or hear God’s Truth will come to understand).
The lame will leap like a deer, those unable to speak will sing.
The wilderness, the desert will be well-watered.
An holy highway will be built, and those who travel it, even if fools, will not err.
No predators will haunt that holy highway, the redeemed of Israel will walk it safely.
“And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
Isaiah–part 1
https://www.biblestudytools.com/isaiah/ for background, summary, NIV version of the Book of Isaiah
“The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”
Isa 1—the Lord’s complaint & plea
“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.”
The language of this chapter, like much of Isaiah’s writing, is so striking that it begs to be read in full. I will try here to summarize without destroying it.
Isaiah invokes images from parenting, husbandry, healthcare, history (Sodom & Gomorrah), textiles, harlotry, metallurgical refining. He references the oaks & gardens wherein they have committed idolatry. Some of my favorite verses:
“Why should ye be stricken any more? . . . [Why keep suffering? What’s the point of your religious observances? Don’t bother me with them, I’m sick of them, I won’t pay any attention to them.] . . .
16 ¶ Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge [bring justice to] the fatherless, plead for the widow.
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet [think in terms of the stain caused by red Jello], they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts [bribes], and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless [don’t bring justice to the orphaned], neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
26 And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment [Justice], and her converts with righteousness.
Isa 2—about Judah & Jerusalem, the future mountain of Lord’s house vs current wickedness & pride
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. [Note how Judeo-Christian teachings & morality have spread from the Jews to the world.]
4 And he [God] shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. [They will stop spending their resources on war and destructive doings, and turn them to positive, productive pursuits.]
5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
The Lord has withdrawn His help & blessings from the descendants of Jacob/Israel because they seek fulfillment in the false philosophies, pretenders to prophecy, and partnering with pagan nations. Israel is wealthy and full of expensive vehicles. They worship their own works. They are arrogant. But they will be humbled and seek to hide from the Lord and his judgments. A description & message for US today. “For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low . . . In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” Quit relying on human means, for of what use are they?
3—The Lord has withdrawn His help because of the oppressions in Jerusalem & Judah
This chapter is another beautifully expressed word of the Lord. I will try to summarize it, but I hope all will read it as it is in the Bible.
The Lord takes away the stores of food and water that a besieged city would rely on, as well as the leaders, both military and civil. Instead, they’ll be ruled by the young and/or inept without wisdom. The people will oppress (take advantage of) one another. The traditional order of society will be upended. Then relatives will come to the most solidly based of their kin and try to get them/him to take the leadership role, but he/they refuse that responsibility because it would be such a heavy burden. In many cultures a tribal leader is responsible for the well-being of the tribe/extended family in every way—see that they have food, financial support, safety, etc. “For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory.”
Instead of men taking responsible, leadership roles (in the family, in the nation), “children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.” Sounds like the nightly news in our nation today!
The Lord pleads (Heb. contends) and judges the people: the elders (traditional leaders of a certain standing and age) and those born to leadership roles, instead of caring for the welfare of the people, have taken advantage of the poor and powerless for their own benefit. “What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord God of hosts.”
Additionally, women are haughty, walking that certain provocative walk in their showy apparel. The day will come that their hair (a symbol of beauty) will be replaced with sores, and their private parts will also be affected (not all translations include that last part, see https://biblehub.com/isaiah/3-17.htm ). All their fancy dress, jewelry, and perfumes will be taken away, and their beauty will be replaced with mere lust.
The men of Judah & Jerusalem will fall in battle, and Judah/Jerusalem will be left emotionally as well as physically desolate.
Isa 4—those left after the war will become righteous, and the Lord will protect them
Because of the shortage of men (killed in war), 7 women will offer to be self-supporting, if they can just have the name (come under the social protection/standing) of one man. Those that escape the terrible consequences of war will prosper, and the land healed. Those that are left will turn their lives to holiness (living righteous lives). The Lord will have cleansed the wicked from His people. Isaiah refers back to the time of the Exodus when the Lord led and defended Israel with a cloud by day and fire by night. The Tabernacle was symbolic of a shelter from intense weather (troubles).
5—A song of the vineyard, Woe to the wicked, & captivity comes through lack of knowledge of the Lord
1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
Consequentially, the vineyard is to be destroyed. Isaiah pronounces woe to those who monopolize real estate: their lands will be unproductive. Woe to partiers who spend their days drunk, feasting to the tune of music (only the wealthy could afford to have musicians at their parties), ignoring the Lord. Hell will gorge itself on the proud, the wealthy & powerful will be humbled. Woe to those who promote wickedness, and taunt Let the Lord show Himself and we’ll believe Him. “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Woe to those who think they are wise/prudent. Woe to those who corrupt justice for bribes. The Lord is angry, and letting them be destroyed like a wildfire in a field.
But the Lord promises that when Israel is cleansed and He is appreciated for his Justice and Holiness, Righteousness the wasted land will once again support flocks of sheep. The Lord will metaphorically raise a invitational banner and whistle (hiss) to the world (as a dog owner whistles for a pet to come), and the nations of the world will come quickly. Their transportation will be so rapid that people won’t have to sleep—indicating jet flight. The weapons he depicts might be symbols of modern warfare, described as best an ancient could portray a vision of the future, modern life: the speed, the noise, the smoke of battles.
This chapter is so beautifully written it’s a shame not to read it directly. Here’s one of many favorite verses: “Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.” As Jesus said, the Truth makes us free. People are hungry and thirsting for Truth and Righteousness.
6—the year of King Uzziah’s death Isaiah sees a vision, and is called by the Lord, “Whom shall I send?”
In his vision, Isaiah sees the Lord in His heavenly Temple with symbolically winged seraphim/angels at His throne. Isaiah recognizes his own unworthiness, and that of his people. One of the seraphim symbolically refines him with a live coal from the fire on the sacrificial altar. He hears the Lord asking, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” and Isaiah volunteers himself. The Lord tells him to go tell the people that they hear but don’t understand, they see but don’t apprehend. Their hearts are fat (full of self-gratification, instead of lean and strong; the Hebrew means “calloused”), their ears deaf (Hebrew), their eyes closed. In other words, Isaiah’s teachings will be commonly known but people will quit listening to him. The way this is put is only a manner of speaking. It’s not Isaiah who will make their hearts calloused, and so forth, but the people themselves. The Lord is letting Isaiah know in advance that his contemporaries will ignore the truths he brings, rather than see, hear, understand in their hearts, and convert their lives to be healed (as individual souls and as a nation). This understanding and conversion won’t happen until after the nation is destroyed, the people carried away captive, and only a tenth of them return. (Note the change in the people under leadership of Ezra & Nehemiah).
See https://biblehub.com/isaiah/6-10.htm
Isa 7 Isaiah’s (the Lord’s) message to Ahaz when the kings of Israel & Syria threatened
“And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.” (King Ahaz: 2 Kings 16:1-20, 2 Chron 28:1-27)
The kingdom of Judah is shaking with fear like windblown leaves. The Lord sends Isaiah and his son to King Ahaz to calm his fears. “Don’t worry about these two enemies who are plotting to set up a puppet king in your place. It’s not going to happen. And within 65 years the kingdom of Ephraim (the northern kingdom of Israel) will be wiped out. Just ask for a whatever sign you want to prove this is God talking.”
Ahaz won’t ask for a sign, in what appears an appreciation for God: “I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.” But Isaiah’s reply sheds a different light on the heart of Ahaz. “Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?” It’s bad enough to weary Isaiah, it’s worse to weary the Lord.
14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.
Verse 14 is quoted in the context of the Messiah, meaning Jesus Christ. There can be more than one fulfillment of a prophecy. But the following verses seem clear that this is a prophecy of the coming Assyrian conquest (see v. 17). In this case I don’t think the virgin birth means a miraculous conception, only that the young woman was a virgin before conceiving, that is, it’s her firstborn child.
I think a better word for “hiss” would be “whistle”, as a dog owner whistles for his pet to come (see v. 18). The Lord will summon Egypt (symbolized by a fly, harking back to the Exodus experience—the flood cycle of the Nile as well as the wet conditions of the delta no doubt bred flies), and likewise He will summon Assyria (symbolized by a bee). The Assyrian conquest is likened to a man being shaved entirely (Assyria the razor) . . . which would be seen not only as utter conquest, but also as a great shaming (remember the case of King David’s emissaries who were disrespected by shaving). The Lord through Isaiah speaks of a man with a cow and two sheep (a poor farmer) with plenty of milk, eating butter & honey (symbols of plenty). In other words, the wealthy will be killed and carried away, leaving the poor to prosper. The huge vineyards will be destroyed and will be full of weeds. Those that are left in the land after the invasion (armies with bows & arrows) will dig out the weedy brush (briers & thorns) to pasture their animals on the hills. A mattock being a digging tool.
Isa 8—Isaiah has two scribes write his testimony & prophecies; alliance with God vs nations
The Lord instructs Isaiah to get a large scroll and write. So he gets two good men to record the Lord’s words, Uriah the priest and Zechariah. Isaiah fathers a child with a prophetess (perhaps alluding to the virgin in the preceding chapter). Before the child learns to speak, both Damascus (the Syrian capital) and Samaria (the northern Israelite capital) will be conquered by Assyria. The conquest is likened to a flooding river, alluding to Assyria of Mesopotamia . . . a land between the Tigris & Euphrates. Assyria will reach even to the neck of Judah, the gates of Jerusalem. Like a bird of prey glides on huge wings, so Assyria will overshadow the land.
The alliances the nations try to forge to protect themselves from the Assyrian conquest will be broken up. Only God can save His people. The Lord powerfully impresses upon Isaiah that he should not go along with all those who say Judah should ally itself with other nations. Rather, Judah should turn to God as their Savior. Don’t be afraid of conquering armies, instead “fear” the Lord. For those who listen and turn to Him, He will be a sanctuary. Unfortunately, for the preponderance of both Israel & Judah, He is a stone to stumble over and to be affronted by. (Note Isaiah’s poetic parallelism in the stone and the rock). To the majority of the people of Jerusalem God is like a trap in which they are snared. It’s both a sorrow and a warning to us today, that they were faithless & foolish, and let us not be so.
Like the binding up of a scroll so it doesn’t unroll, so let the testimony of God and His law be bound in the hearts of those who study God’s law and follow it/Him. Isaiah promises he will look to the Lord and wait for Him as a defense, while the rest of the descendants of Jacob can’t see Him at work. Isaiah and his children symbolize what God is up to. When people say, Get advice from various soothsayers, shouldn’t people go to God for advice, and for the living to hear from the dead? The dead “speak” to us through the scriptures: the Law and the Testimony. Anyone who says differently is not enlightened.
Isaiah prophesies of the coming troubles, people wandering hungry and angry at their king and their God. Truly dark days. See https://biblehub.com/isaiah/8-21.htm (scroll to the bottom for the Hebrew & translation).
Isa 9—Ahaz is king of Judah, Pekah king of Israel, Rezin king of Syria, and Philistines invaded—see 2 Kings 16:1-20 and 2 Chron 28:1-27)
This is a difficult chapter with problematic verses. We can only take what we can from it, and trust that at some point we will come to understand. Verse 1 refers to trouble brought to northern Israel by Ben-Hadad of Syria (1 kings 15:20), and then Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria (2 Kings 15:29). Whether it means the coming afflictions will be worse (not so lightly vexed as before), or whether that darkness will be dispelled is hard to tell. It is apparent that scholars have wrestled with verse 3 as well. But the verses that follow offer hope for the future. For commentary and translation help see
https://biblehub.com/isaiah/9-1.htm verse 1
https://biblehub.com/isaiah/9-3.htm verse 3
https://biblehub.com/isaiah/9-4.htm verse 4
https://biblehub.com/isaiah/9-5.htm verse 5
Consider these pairings in light of the Hebrew poetic device of chiasmus
v 1 dimness, affliction (war)
v 19 land is darkened through wrath of the Lord
v 2-3 light shines & joy
v 6-7 promise of Hope—a Messiah
v 5 battles heretofore are full of confusion, noise, garments rolled in blood, but in future burning/fire
v 18-19 wickedness burns like fire, people as fuel for fire
vs 20-21 the afflictions of war
Between those verses:
Verses 8-12 Israel thinks to rebuild, but the Syrians on one side, the Philistines on the other will devour them/their resources
Verses 13-17 people refuse to repent, so the Lord will not have mercy on them
Taken as a whole, it seems to me that the message of this chapter is that though Israel had been afflicted before, it will be even worse now. The Lord speaks of the pride, the refusal to repent, the lying leaders, the hypocrisy, the evil doings, the foolish wisdom of Israel. Manasseh & Ephraim (Manasseh east of the Jordan River & Sea of Galilee, Ephraim on the west side, both belonging to the Israelite kingdom) against Judah. See Isa 7 and following.
Favorite verses:
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
17 Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Isa 10—woe to unrighteous (who will you turn to?), and Assyria’s pride & punishment
Woe to those lawmakers that write grievous laws. “To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!” Who are you going to turn to for help when troubles come? (i.e. war, particularly the Assyrian invasion) Where will you hide your wealth/treasures?
The Lord will send Assyria as a punitive rod against Israel, an hypocritical nation. Of course, Assyria thinks it’s through his own might and wisdom that he conquers all these nations. He compares the cities and gods he has already conquered to those he intends likewise to crush. But when the Lord is done with punishing His people and surrounding nations, he will punish the pride of Assyria.
13 For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people [changed the national boundaries], and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:
14 And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing [as a hen would try to protect her offspring], or opened the mouth, or peeped.
15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh [uses] it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood. [as if a tool boasts in itself, rather than recognizing that it is nothing without the person using it]
After Assyria has been punished, a remnant of Israel (the House of Jacob), those that have escaped Assyria (perhaps by fleeing to Jerusalem) will quit relying on their enemy, and rely instead on “the Lord, the Holy One of Israel” with integrity. Remember that it was a king of Israel that invited Assyria into his foreign policy. Although Israel was numerous before its conquest, there will yet be a remnant that will return.
The Lord enjoins Jerusalem (Zion) not to be afraid of Assyria. He refers to when the Children of Israel were oppressed by Egypt but the Lord broke that yoke off them, and the victory the Lord gave Gideon against the Midianites. There’s a list of the cities Assyria has conquered, but he’ll be stopped at Nob, shaking his fist (threatening) Jerusalem. Then the Lord will cut him down like a forest is clear cut.
The Books of Micah & Joel
Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah. Joel’s lifetime is uncertain, and there are various opinions about when he lived, but his message sounds very much like Isaiah to me, and his mention of the scattering and gathering of Israel & Judah makes it seem likely that he lived in that time period. Joel’s name means “Yahweh/the Lord is God”. It is said that Joel was an accomplished writer, which indicates that he was an educated man, like Isaiah. (The Twelve Minor Prophets translated from Hebrew with commentary by Ebenezer Henderson, pp 90-91 https://archive.org/details/bookoftwelvemino1845hend )
Micah 1
The word of the Lord that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
Micah directs his prophecy to everyone, all the world. The Lord God has His eye on what’s going on. When He comes to the earth the mountains will melt like wax and flow down like water. Though this chapter speaks about the sins of Israel & Judah, it’s a caution to everyone everywhere that God is powerful and knows what’s happening, implying that you can’t get away with wickedness.
Micah accuses the 2 capitals of Israel and Judah, Samaria & Jerusalem, for being idolatrous, and in the Lord’s name, prophesies the consequences: the destruction of them and their idols, people & places of idolatrous worship. Micah speaks of his mourning for the two nations, making wailing and mournful sounds like dragons & owls (literally jackals and ostriches, because their vocalizations sound sorrowful). The kingdom of Judah will be injured incurably as Assyria comes even to the gate of Jerusalem. About the mournful noise, see https://biblehub.com/commentaries/micah/1-8.htm
Micah names cities/towns in the Philistine plain, making wordplay of their names. Assyria would conquer towns all around Jerusalem, including these.
Gath—well-known Philistine city (from which Goliath came)
Aphrah—unknown city, meaning of the name is “house of dust”, symbol of destruction
Saphir—“fair”, a village in a mountainous area
Zaanan—“to go forth”, verbal word play on an unknown place
Beth-ezel—“adjoining house”, unknown place; see https://bibleatlas.org/beth-ezel.htm
Maroth—“bitterness”, or “grief”, not far from Jerusalem “mentioned in connection with the invasion of the Assyrian army” https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/maroth/
Lachish—an ancient Canaanite, then Israelite, city in the lowlands of Judea
Zion—can refer to the city of Jerusalem, or the land of Judah, or the whole nation of Israel. https://www.gotquestions.org/Zion.html
Moresheth-gath—“possession of Gath”, Micah’s home https://bibleatlas.org/moresheth-gath.htm
Achzib—“falsehood” or “disappointment”, one of 2 places see https://www.biblestudytools.com/encyclopedias/isbe/achzib.html
Mareshah—“crest of a hill”, city of lowland Judah, fortified by Rehoboam to protect Jerusalem https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Mareshah
Adullam—“justice of the people”, https://www.biblestudy.org/meaning-names/adullam.html
Cutting of the hair would be another symbol of mourning.
Micah 2
1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
The picture is of a wealthy, powerful person making plans, even before getting up in the morning, finding ways to defraud others of their fields and homes, their inherited properties. Remember that in the Law of Moses (the Law of God given through Moses) family & tribal land inheritances were carefully protected and honored. The Lord promises to recompense them for their attitude & behavior. They will lament their situation when the Lord takes away what they have taken. They tell people (like Micah) not to prophesy against them, but how will that change what the Lord does? (In Amos we are told that the Lord always warns of what He will do ahead of time, yet people don’t want to hear that.)
An interesting, perhaps more understandable, reworking of this chapter is https://biblehub.com/bsb/micah/2.htm
Micah 3
Micah rhetorically asks the leaders of the House of Israel if they shouldn’t recognize what is right, then he uses some really graphic metaphors for those who “hate the good, and love the evil”—that is, they oppress the people. As a result, he says, the Lord will not hear their cries in their time of trouble.
He decries the (false) prophets that lead the people astray, calling for Peace, while warring against God. Those prophets will lose their vision, and their minds will be darkened. They will be embarrassed because God will not answer them.
Meanwhile, Micah says the Lord has empowered him to tell the transgressions of the House of Israel. He speaks to the leaders of that House “that abhor judgment, and pervert all [justice]”. The leaders, priests, teachers, and prophets work for bribes. Yet they then ironically boast that nothing bad can happen to them because the Lord is with them. Consequently, Zion/Jerusalem will be plowed under, heaped upon with disaster.
Micah 4—a positive promise for the future of the House of Israel
1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. [Jerusalem is built on hills, Judah is a hill country.]
2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob [the Temple]; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 ¶ And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.
5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.
6 In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth [stops or walks haltingly], and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted [that is, Zion/the House of Israel];
7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.
In that future time Israel will be ruled again from the strengthened Jerusalem. Right now Israel is in pain, but out of that pain (in Mesopotamia), Israel will be born again, redeemed/bought from her enemies. Right now Israel is being defiled by many nations. But they don’t know God’s plan: they will be like harvested grains threshed/thrashed in preparation for the mill/grinding. He continues that metaphor, comparing Israel/Jerusalem to an ox that would be used to trample the grain in order to separate the grain from the stalks (many people/nations of the earth).
Micah 5—promised future of the remnant of the House of Israel
Don’t be discouraged if this chapter is hard to understand. We aren’t living in those times, so some references will be obscure. It’s not always clear in this chapter who is the subject, who is the object of the prophecy. Ponder, pray for inspiration, get what you can from this chapter, and trust at some point it will all become clear—either in this life or the next. The following might be helpful:
https://biblehub.com/micah/5-1.htm
Though the then present Jerusalem must gather its troops for the siege, in future a ruler would come forth from Bethlehem (the birthplace of King David, thus this would be a descendant of his, a rightful heir of the kingdom). It seems as though God has given up on Israel until that time. As a woman suffers in birth, yet this rule will be the birth of the redeemed, the return of the children of Israel.
The timeframe of this prophecy was when Assyria was the great foe. Israel is promised that one day they will conquer invading Assyrians (now Iraq, and parts of Iran, Kuwait, Syria & Turkey), and other Gentile nations. These nations to this day wish to destroy/wipe out Israel. Though the children of Israel will be scattered among many nations, the Lord promises that one day their enemies’ instruments of and resources for war, as well as the soothsayers, idols, and groves (places where idols were worshipped) will be destroyed from those nations.
My favorite verses:
2 But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. [NT reference to Jesus Christ]
4 ¶ And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
Micah 6
The Lord calls for the earth to hear his complaint against Israel. He invites Israel to answer how He has mistreated them. He reminds them of His hand in the Exodus . . . Micah says, What good are sacrifices and burnt offerings, no matter how impressive? Here’s what the Lord wants:
8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
The Lord speaks as the rod (punishment), and those that are wise will recognize His voice. The wicked still have abominations in their houses. No matter how small, they can’t be considered pure unless they are measured with corrupted scales. The rich get their riches through violence, and lies, and deceit.
So the Lord (the rod of punishment) will make you pay with being smitten, and the consequences of your sins will be desolation. You’ll find no satisfaction in your efforts, which the Lord will overthrow. You follow the follies of Omri and Ahab (two well-known wicked, idolatrous kings of Israel), and for that you will be destroyed and despised.
Micah 7—although Israel will suffer for its wickedness, yet someday God will pardon and bless
1 Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.
2 The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
You can hear the depths of Micah’s mourning! He feels like a man looking forward to the grape harvest and there is nothing there. There’s nobody good left. Everyone is watching for the chance to profit from the losses of even their own kin. They are into it with both hands. The Leaders and the Judges all expect bribes. The powerful says what he wants and it’s handed to him in gift-wrapping. Even the best of them is like a thorny-bush. But the day will come when they’ll have to pay the piper.
You can’t trust a friend or a mentor, nor your own wife. Sons defraud their fathers, daughters are against their mothers . . . “a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.”
Micah says the only one he can trust is God: “Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.” Don’t gloat over me when I fall, because I’ll rise again: “when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.” I’ve made mistakes, and will bear God’s displeasure, until He comes to my help like a righteous judge. Then those who said, “Where is the Lord thy God?” (that is, Why isn’t this God you have so much faith in helping you?) will have their faces covered in mud. (Micah puts this in terms of a woman, so that one could wonder if his wife said such words to him. And the consequences are not merely to have mud in the face, but to be trampled into it). In the day of judgment, building plans will be vacated. The Assyrians will come and make the land desolate as a result of the wickedness of the people.
Despite the punishments, one day the Lord will miraculously save Israel as He did when He brought them out of bondage in Egypt. Nations will be amazed, left speechless and afraid. They will crawl like worms, slither away like snakes.
18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
Joel 1—a vivid picture of the destruction of the land
Listen, old men. Neither you nor your fathers have seen anything like this. You’ll be telling it to your children, who will tell their children, and the story will be passed down another generation. Joel then describes the destruction of the land in vivid word pictures:
Like insects, what one destroyer leaves, another comes along to destroy. Partiers are left to weep for the loss of their wine. A nation like a fiercely toothed lion is come. The vineyards are made bare, the bark stripped from the fig tree. Mourn like a young widow. The priests mourn for the loss of their job (offering sacrifices in the Temple). The land mourns for the fields laid waste, the grain gone, the wine stores dried up, the [olive] oil gone. The farmers are ashamed of their poor wheat and barley harvest, the workers in the vineyards howl [for lack or work]. The grape vines are dried up, the fig trees weakened (or neglected), the pomegranate, the palm, the apple, and the rest are withered, “because joy is withered away from the sons of men.” It seems none have enthusiasm for their work/agriculture—perhaps it seems hopeless/worthless.
“Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord . . .” because the day of judgment has come. There’s no joy in Temple worship. Seeds rot in the fields, barns are empty and broken down because the grain is withered. The farm animals groan and are confused, the sheep are desolate [perhaps uncared for]. Fire has consumed the cultivated fields, all the orchards, and the unfenced pasturelands. The rivers are dried up.
Compare:
Joel 1:15 to Isa 13:6—the day of the Lord is at hand
Joel 2—three parts: utter destruction from an invading army; plea for repentance; God’s merciful deliverance and blessings if the people repent
Joel describes the terror of the imminent invasion: trumpets sound the alarm, everyone is trembling in fear. It’s a dark day when the powerful army comes, such as never was nor ever will be for generations. A place that was like the Garden of Eden will be scorched earth, a desolate wilderness. None will escape. Like the noise of an all-consuming fire, like horses and chariots on the mountain tops will they come. They’ll run like mighty warriors, climb the walls of the cities, march forward without breaking ranks. Like an army of tanks and trucks, the ground will quake at the coming of their armies. Smoke from the fires will darken the sun, moon, and stars. The Lord brings this army in judgment on the House of Israel for their sins.
But (the Lord through Micah pleads), turn to the Lord “with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your [clothes, as in a sign of distress or mourning], and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil [that is, will change your fate]. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; [bring] a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God?” Blow a trumpet [poetic parallel, for the trumpet now is not in sounding the alarm for war, but . . . ] calling everyone to a fast, a solemn gathering, a sanctifying. Gather everyone, even the nursing baby and the bride & bridegroom (from their wedding or honeymoon). Let the priests weep and plead for the people: (Oh, God,) don’t give excuse for their enemies to reproach them with “Where is your God?”
Then the Lord will take pity on His people. He will prosper you. He will take away your embarrassments among the non-believers. He will drive away the invader/destroyer (in this case Assyria). You won’t have to fear, you’ll rejoice and be glad “for the Lord will do great things” for you. Domesticated animals and plants won’t have to fear destruction and neglect either. The Lord will send rain in season and moderation. The stores of food will be full and overflowing. The Lord will make up for the years of pestilence.
26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
28 ¶ And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.
32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.
Compare:
Joel 2:28 to Isa 32:15 & Isa 44:3—outpouring of God’s Spirit
Joel 2:28-32 is quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2:17-21
Joel 3—promises for the return of the Jews, and their conquest of their enemies
When the Lord brings the Jews back from captivity there is to be a showdown in the valley of Jehoshaphat (next to Jerusalem; see https://bibleatlas.org/valley_of_jehoshaphat.htm ). They had scattered the House of Israel among the nations. They had sold the boys into prostitution (note verse 6 mention of Grecians), and sold the girls for the price of wine. The Lord calls out Tyre & Sidon, and all the neighbors of Palestine for pillaging the gold & silver from Judah to adorn the temples of their idols. The Lord promises to return their actions upon their own heads. The Jews will sell their children to the Sabeans afar off. They are called to war, such that they remake their tools of agriculture into tools of warfare. They must prepare their psyches for war. Poetically, war is likened to a harvest. The valley becomes the valley of decision (who will come off victorious). It appears the fires of war will darken the skies, blotting out the sun, moon, and stars. The Lord will roar from Zion/Jerusalem, shake the heavens & earth, and give hope and strength to His people, the children of Israel. Then Israel will know the Lord dwells/abides with them in Zion, His holy mountain. Jerusalem will then be holy, without foreigners.
About the Sabeans, see
https://biblehub.com/topical/s/sabeans.htm
https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12969-sabeans
The mountains are spoken of as dropping down new wine, indicating vineyards, and the hills flowing with milk, indicating lactating herds. A fountain/stream will water a dry wadi from the Temple mount. Egypt and Edom will be desolate for their “violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.” Judah & Jerusalem will abide from generation to generation, and the Lord will cleanse them [possibly cleansing their blood means they will become pure-blooded, vs mixed race . . . as Moses had commanded the people not to marry with non-believers, idol worshippers of the time, who would turn their hearts away from God].
Various ideas about “the valley of Shittim”:
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/joel/3-18.htm
https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13593-shittim
Compare:
Joel 3:10 to Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3—plowshares to swords vs swords to plowshares
Joel 3:15 to Amos 5:18, 20 and Isa 13:10—the day of the Lord will be dark (also Joel 2:2, 10, 31)
Joel 3:16 to Amos 1:2—the Lord will roar
Joel 3:18 to Amos 9:13—mountains dripping with wine
The Books of Jonah, Amos, & Hosea
I should have created this post before Hezekiah, the previous post. These prophets shed light on the period of time before the Assyrian invasion & capture of the Northern Kingdom. Note how similar to our contemporary culture were their sins. Likewise, God will yet extend His mercy and blessings for us if we turn to Him. If not, we destroy ourselves.
Three prophets mentioned as prophesying during the reign of Jeroboam II, king of Israel, have their own books in the Old Testament: Jonah, Amos, and Hosea. Jonah is only mentioned in the reign of Jeroboam II, and it makes sense that he was sent to Nineveh before the height of the Assyrian glory, as they were still humble enough to repent. There’s an interesting reference to an earthquake while Amos was prophet during the reign of Jeroboam II, and Amos also prophesied during the reign of Uzziah/Azariah, king of Judah. The longest living of the three was Hosea who, like Isaiah, was active during the reigns of the Jewish kings Uzziah/Azariah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. They would see the northern kingdom of Israel taken captive and carried away by the Assyrian Empire, probably only a little over 100 years after the prophet Elisha died during the reign of king Joash of Israel (see 2 Kings 13)—not to be confused with his contemporary king Joash of Judah.
The Book of Jonah (see reference to Jonah under King Jeroboam II in 2 Kings 14:25)
Most of us are pretty familiar with the story of Jonah. The Lord calls him to go call Ninevah (the Assyrian capital) to repentance. Jonah heads instead to the Israeli seaport of Joppa (35 mi northwest of Jerusalem), to take ship to the Phoenician seaport of Tarshish (on the Spanish coast). There are more interesting sites about Nineveh if you contribute or disable your ad blocker.
• https://www.britannica.com/place/Nineveh-ancient-city-Iraq
• https://www.science20.com/the_conversation/nineveh_when_the_capital_of_assyria_was_the_most_dazzling_city_in_the_world-256377
• https://www.bibleplaces.com/joppa/
• https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Joppa
• https://bibleatlas.org/tarshish.htm
• https://www.gotquestions.org/Jonah-Tarshish-Nineveh.html
A terrible storm comes up on the Mediterranean Sea as they are sailing toward Tarshish, threatening shipwreck. All the sailors take to calling on their various gods for help. They toss the cargo, hoping to lighten the ship. Meanwhile, Jonah is fast asleep below deck. The shipmaster comes and says, “What do you think you’re doing?! Start calling on your God (just one of many, to them) to save us!
The crew decide to cast lots to find out who is responsible for the calamity. Remember that anciently people believed the gods responded to queries through the casting of lots, and that’s not to say that God didn’t answer them in a way they could relate to. The lot falls on Jonah. They start questioning Jonah about his occupation and roots, and who is to blame for their bad fortune. Jonah replies that he is a Hebrew, and his God is Ruler over Heaven and is the Creator. He explains that he’s on the run from God. The men are scared stiff. They ask him what to do. He tells them to toss him overboard. They try to row the ship to land, but at last they cry for forgiveness from God for what they are about to do, and toss him into the sea. The storm calms, and they all sacrifice in thanks and make vows.
“Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” This fish is usually depicted as a whale, and the writers of the text may not have differentiated between whales and fish as we do. But apparently there are some possible candidates. Remember that the Lord had prepared the creature, so it wasn’t necessarily just any ordinary species or specimen thereof, and some sort of air supply might also have be swallowed.
• https://armstronginstitute.org/315-what-was-the-great-fish-that-swallowed-jonah
Jonah prays to be released from his unpleasant prison (perhaps when he comes to). A poetic version of the plea is recorded in chapter 2.
The Lord reminds Jonah of his mission, and Jonah goes. Nineveh is so huge it apparently takes 3 days to get through it. Probably big traffic troubles, beside the size of the city. Jonah gets a third of the way into the city and predicts its overthrow in 40 days. In a time of various nations vying for predominance, that seems plausible to the inhabitants. They proclaim a fast, put on sackcloth (a sign of great sorrow, humility, or humiliation—likely worn for mourning and/or slavery). The rulers don’t exclude themselves from their edicts. Even the king is in sackcloth & ashes, while he and the nobles proclaim the fast for humans and animals, likewise in sackcloth & ashes, repenting, crying to God—just in case God is willing to grant them mercy.
We have already discussed whether God repents in the way that humans must . . . It is obvious that He changed His decree. To repent is to change.
Jonah is thinking about his own rep (what he said didn’t happen), and no doubt his own feelings toward this superpower potential enemy or threat to his own nation. He complains/explains that this was the reason he headed for Tarshish. He wants to die.
God says, Is this a good thing to be angry about?
Jonah goes out of the city and builds a little shelter to see what will happen. God’s going to teach him something, and causes a gourd vine to grow up and shade him. Jonah’s glad for that. But then God has a worm invade the gourd vine, and then a strong [hot from the desert] east wind to wither the vine. Jonah faints from the sun [or sunstroke?] and wishes to die.
God says, Is this a good reason to be angry? Jonah says, It’s a good enough reason to be angry to death [probably expecting God to strike him down]. God says, You’re feeling sorry about the gourd, which you did nothing to cause to grow, but shouldn’t I feel sorrow over the loss of Nineveh, with more than 120,000 innocents, beside animals?
The Book of Amos—a shepherd called to be a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel
Amos 1:1 “The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.”
Such an intriguing mention! It appears that the reigns of Uzziah & Jeroboam (the second) overlapped for 27 years. Sometime during those years was an earthquake of note, it would seem. Here’s an interesting article about evidence of an earthquake in that time with a cross reference to Zech 14:5 “ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah . . .”
• https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-find-evidence-8th-century-bc-earthquake-described-old-testament-180978385/
Amos 1
Punishments for Damascus (Syrians), and Gaza (Philistines), Tyre (“a major Phoenician seaport from about 2000 BCE through the Roman period” https://www.britannica.com/place/Tyre ), Edom (descendants of Esau, Jacob/Israel’s brother), and Ammon (descendants of Lot). Each of them had transgressed against Judah. The “brotherly covenant” (alliance) between Tyre and Judah was enacted by David & Solomon with Hyrum of Tyre. Edom’s fault in barbarity is noted in that they ripped up pregnant women in Gilead just to enlarge their holdings.
• https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-near-eastern-world/ammonites-moabites-edomites-in-the-bible/
Amos 2
Punishments are in store for Moab (descendants of Lot), Judah (“because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked”), and Israel (“because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes; That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name . . .” as well as worshipping false gods). After God had brought the Israelites out of Egypt and cared for them 40 years in the wilderness, gave them the land of the Amorites (giants like the cedars), they have become so wicked the Lord is angry and leaves them to be conquered. He complains, I’ve raised up prophets (to teach you, warn you, bless you). But you’ve given wine to the Nazarites (vs their vow of abstinence), and tried to silence the prophets. You’ve treated me like a cart under a heavy load. So things will get so bad that even the strong & courageous will flee, taking nothing.
Amos 3
The Lord continues His complaint against the House of Israel: you were my chosen people out of all the families of the earth! And I will punish you for your wickedness. We can’t walk together because we don’t agree. Lions don’t roar for nothing (implying that God has reason for roaring against the Children of Israel). Birds aren’t snared if no snare is set (implying that God has set a snare against the Israelites). Trumpets (of war) will blow, city residents will be afraid. When bad things happen to a city, the Lord is behind it. But surely, “the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” That is, He warns of His punishments. He has roared out His complaints, and shouldn’t everyone pay attention? He has spoken, all I can do is to prophesy as He speaks, Amos says.
Tell the rulers of the Philistines and Egypt to come to Samaria (the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel), and witness the violence and robbery even in the palace. As a shepherd saves whatever he can from the mouth of the lion (even just the legs of the sheep or a piece of an ear), only a small remnant of the people will be saved from the conquerors. The altars (golden calves Jeroboam set up) of Bethel will be destroyed, the winter & summer palaces, the ivory palaces will be destroyed.
Amos 4
Continuing His complaint of the oppression of the poor in Samaria (capitol of the northern kingdom of Israel) the Lord says they’ll be like fish caught on hooks. Their city walls will be breached. They have brought their sacrifices and offerings to the false worship in Gilgal (where Jeroboam had set up a golden calf, beside that at Bethel).
Clean teeth are an indication of having no food to eat.
Despite warnings of famine and drought, city by city (people of one city had to go to another to find food and water), the Israelites still didn’t return to God. Despite blights and diseases, pestilences like Egypt suffered (during the Exodus), wars that killed the young men and horses, the destruction of cities (as Sodom & Gomorrah were destroyed), the Israelites still didn’t return to God. So, prepare to meet your God (at the bar of Judgment), the Creator and Ruler of the earth, who has an army of angels at His command. Yet He deigns to let mankind know what He’s thinking.
Amos 5
The Lord pleads with the House of Israel to return to Him, to quit worshipping false gods at Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba, lest destruction break out like a fire and cities of 1000 are left 100, and cities of 100 are left with 10. (The house of Joseph refers to the rival kingdom of Israel that Jeroboam set up, vs the kingdom of Judah). God is ruler over the stars above and the earth & sea beneath. He can strengthen even the conquered to attack a fortress.
The Israelites hate those that call them to repentance, and who speak Truth and Righteousness. They walk all over the poor, taking all they have. The oppressors have built expensive homes and planted vineyards, but they won’t be able to enjoy them. They have persecuted the just, taken bribes, ignored the rights of the poor. The “prudent” keep their lips shut, lest they suffer as well. The Lord implores, “Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph [leader of the northern kingdom of Israel].”
But because they refuse to repent, there will be wailing and mourning. They that yearn for the coming of the Lord will find that a day of darkness, not light. It’s like a man running from a lion and is met by a bear, or when he reaches the safety of his home he’s bit by a snake (like Jonah, you can't escape God). God hates their religious observances because of their hypocrisy. Rather He wants righteous judgments. They have worshipped false gods, and they will be taken captive, God promises.
Amos 6
“Woe to them that are at ease in Zion . . . ! [the kingdom of Judah]” And those “that trust in the mountain of Samaria . . .” [the northern kingdom of Israel].
Calneh—one of 4 cities founded by Nimrod (Gen 10:10), along with Babel, Erech, and Accad, that is, Babylonia
Hamath—a Syrian city straddling the Orontes River, surrounded by hills
Gath—a major Philistine city
Take a look at these impressive cities, Amos says. Are they any better than you? (Implying they have been conquered, and so will you be). You sit around ignoring the dangerous situation, while you practice violence on others. You lie on ivory beds, eat lambs and calves, chant to the music, drink bowls of wine, anoint yourselves as the rich, but don’t care about the troubles in your land [the land of Joseph, that is, the northern kingdom of Israel].
As a result, you’ll be first to go into captivity. The Lord hates all your [self-centered, corrupted] palaces. The houses of both the rich and poor will be destroyed, not defended by their own relatives. You’ve boasted in yourself, and you are nothing. You’ve taken justice away from judging and turned it to bitterness. God will raise up a nation to conquer you.
Amos 7
The Lord showed me a vision of a plague of grasshoppers eating up the fields of grain, and I pled for the sake of Jacob/Israel. He said that wouldn’t happen.
The Lord showed me a vision of fire consuming the land, and I pled for Jacob/Israel—how would the nation recover such a thing? He relented that possibility.
The Lord showed me a vision of Him standing on a wall with a plumbline [an instrument for measuring]. He said that would be the limit of His protection from the sword. The descendants of Isaac (of Jacob/Israel and Esau/Edom), the holy places of Israel, the kingdom of Jeroboam (the norther kngdom of Israel) will fall.
Bethel was the rival place of worship Jeroboam I had set up to keep his people from going to Jerusalem of Judah to worship, and maybe be drawn back into the kingdom of Judah. It was still the place of that idol worship (of a calf), along with Gilgal, in the time of Jeroboam II. The priest of Bethel, named Amaziah, sends word to Jeroboam II accusing Amos of conspiracy and speaking against his own country. Amaziah says Amos prophesies your death by the sword and that your kingdom will be carried away captive.
Amaziah tells Amos he’d better flee to the land of Judah, and not prophesy against Bethel any more (the king’s chapel and court). Amos replies, I wasn’t a prophet nor the son of a prophet. I was merely a shepherd when God called me to prophesy to His people Israel. So listen to what God says to you: You say not to prophesy against Israel and the descendants of Isaac (Edom & Israel). Here’s what will happen to you: your wife will be a harlot in the city, your children will fall by the sword, your land will be divided among others, and you will die in a desecrated land, while Israel is carried away captive.
Amos 8
The Lord showed me in vision a basket of summer fruit. It was a symbol of the consumption of Israel. God is done with protecting them. The songs of worship in the temple will become the howling of misery and death. Then the dead will be removed in silence.
Listen, you that oppress the poor and needy . . . You can hardly wait for the holy days to be over so you can get back to commerce, with corrupted measuring apparatus. You take advantage of the poor and take all they have in return for the worst of the wheat. God has sworn that He will not forget your evil, and your land will be conquered like a flood in Egypt overtakes all the land. The sun will go down at noon and darkness will take over the clear day.
10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11 ¶ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.
13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.
Those that swear by the false gods of Samaria (at Bethel, Gilgal/Dan, and Beersheba) will fall and never rise again.
Amos 9
Amos says, I saw in vision the Lord standing on the altar. He told me to hit the doorway hard enough to shake it, and cut them all. He said he would kill them all [presumably the worshippers], even those that try to escape. Those that try to dig their way to safety, or climb to the heights, will all be taken. Those that try to hide at the top of Mt Carmel, or even if they could hide at the bottom of the sea—the Lord would send a monster to eat them. Though they go into captivity of their enemies, they will still be killed by the sword. The Lord will see that they suffer bad things, not good.
It is the Lord that makes the land melt as if by fire. Sorrows will rise like an Egyptian flood drowning all in its path. The Lord has power over all the earth and sea. Israel is like the Ethiopians . . . He brought Israel out of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor (Crete), and the Syrians from Kir (an Assyrian city—see also 2 Kings 16:9, Amos 1:5, Isa 22:6). “Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord.” The house of Israel will be scattered throughout all nations. The sinners who think nothing bad will happen will die by the sword.
The Lord promises, One day I will bring back my people, and bless their land with abundance, and rebuilding of the cities and ruins. They will never be taken from their land again. [Though the Jews returned under Cyrus and following, they were yet carried away captive again, under the Romans. So this had yet to be fulfilled after the completion of the Biblical texts.]
The Book of Hosea—written before the Assyrian captivity of the northern kingdom of Israel
Hosea 1:1 The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
Hosea’s calling from God began with the command to take a whore as a wife, and her children, as a strong statement that Israel had behaved as a whore in her relationship to God. His calling began under the king Jeroboam II of the northern kingdom of Israel.
Hosea’s whorish wife bears him a son the Lord says to name Jezreel, a sign that the Lord would avenge Jezreel upon the house of Jehu (king of Israel). Next a daughter is born, the Lord says to name Lo-ruhamah “for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away. But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.” The kingdom of Israel would be carried away captive by Assyria, and though Assyria threatened even the capital city Jerusalem, the Lord saved the kingdom of Judah under Hezekiah.
Hosea’s wife bears a second son, “Then said God, Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.” But the Lord offers a promise for the future, “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.” The kingdoms of Judah and Israel would be united under one ruler. After the Assyrian captivity this was essentially true, and this prophecy would, like others, be fulfilled more than once. (Note Jesus’ self-defense when accused of blasphemy in John 10:24-42; see also Psalm 82:6, and https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Believers-As-Sons-Of-God ).
Hosea 2
Using the names of Hosea’s children, Ammi (that is, “my people”) and Ruhamah (“having obtained mercy’) the Lord pleads with Israel (symbolized by Hosea’s whorish wife), to put away their whoredoms & adulteries (that is, their worship of idols/false gods), or they will suffer being stripped of resources and rain. They will appeal to these false gods/idols (whom they credit with their prosperity), but they don’t save Israel. Then they decide to go back to the Lord for help (whom they had not recognized as the Giver of their blessings), but He will leave them to their embarrassment and their hollow religious holidays & observances.
Yet He holds out hope for a future time of blessings. Israel (symbolized as a wife) will yet call the Lord Ishi (“my husband”) instead of Baali (“my master”). Note the root of the word Baal (false god) and Baalim (false gods). Instead of worshipping Baalim, they will return to the Lord. And when they do, the Lord will bless (increase) the animals of the land, and take away wars. “And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.” The Lord will listen to the prayers of Israel, and Israel will listen to the Lord. The Lord will once again call Israel His people, and Israel will once again call the Lord their God.
Hosea 3
The Lord tells Hosea to take an adulteress as a wife as a symbol of the Lord making a covenant with Israel (who love other gods for the drunken parties involved in their worship). Hosea pays a bride price of 15 pieces of silver and about ¾ bushel (or about 45 lbs) of barley. He tells her she must be faithful to him, and he will be faithful to her. Israel will go a long time without rulers and statehood, but will in the end return to the Lord and the Davidic lineage of kings (the kingdom of Judah). Again, after the Assyrian captivity the remnant of Israel were left to Jewish leadership.
Hosea 4
1 Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
6 ¶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
7 As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.
Beside all the corruption and crime, Israel worships idols. Consequently, their wives will commit adultery, their daughters fornication, because the men are committing such in the worship of idols (which involved engaging with harlots). The Lord warns Judah not to join in that worship (centered in Gilgal and Bethel). Ephraim is another name for the northern kingdom of Israel, because their first king (Jeroboam) was from the tribe of Ephraim. They will one day be ashamed of their sacrifices to false gods.
Hosea 5
Hosea decries the wickedness of both the kingdoms of Israel & Judah, and foretells their punishment/consequences. Mizpeh (“watchtower” or “lookout”) was the place at which Laban & Jacob agreed not to cross the line against each other (Gen 31:49). Tabor was a mountain in the Jezreel valley (6 mi east of Nazareth, 11 mi sw of the Sea of Galilee. It’s only 2000’ above sea level, but looks taller because the valley of Jezreel is flat. https://www.gotquestions.org/Mount-Tabor.html The kings of Israel have not kept the truce of Mizpeh, and have entrapped/exploited the bounty of the harvest of Jezreel. They have been bloody rulers, despite the Lord’s rebuke. They refuse to limit their actions, nor turn to the Lord. They are proud of what they’ve done. They will fall in their wickedness, and so will the kingdom of Judah. When they seek the Lord, they won’t find Him. Their children are strangers to the Lord (haven’t been taught about Him). The cornet and trumpet announce battle. The possessions of both Israel & Judah will be spoiled, as if a moth got in the closet, or rottenness in the pantry (frig in modern terms). Israel sent to Assyria for help, but Assyria couldn’t fix the problems. Note the reference to lions, symbols of Assyrian kings.
“I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.”
Hosea 6
Hosea pleads for Israel to return to the Lord. “O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.” In other words, whatever good they do is fleeting.
“For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” Compare what Samuel said to King Saul (“to obey is better than sacrifice” 1 Sam 15:22 ) and Jesus in Mat 9:13 & 12:7.
The Lord likens the behavior of Israel to treachery/betrayal/treason . . . as in violating the covenants made in Moses’ time between God and the Children of Israel. Robbers ambush people for gain, and the priests murder the faith of people by committing lewdness. The kingdom of Israel is defiled, and Judah will benefit from an increase in population when the Lord brings His people out of captivity.
About Gilead:
https://www.gotquestions.org/land-of-Gilead.html
https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/gilead/
https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Gilead
Hosea 7
Hosea uses an oven metaphor to talk about the corrupt princes of the kingdom of Israel. They have degraded their king with lies, ill-gotten gains, wine, scorning righteousness, evil plans & preparations . . . a cake/bread not turned would burn on one side and not be done on the other. The kingdom of Israel doesn’t see itself for what it is. They foolishly turn to Egypt and Assyria, instead of the Lord. They behave like a silly dove, and they’ll be caught in the Lord’s net for it.
“Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.” They howl in misery for their troubles from their beds rather than turn their hearts to the Lord; they gather to eat and drink and (encourage one another to) rebel against the Lord. Despite the help the Lord has given them in battle, they think up ways to foment insurrection against Him. Egypt (whom they had sought for help) will just ridicule them.
Hosea 8
The Lord, through Hosea complains of Israel/Ephraim’s worship of idols, and the calves set up by Jeroboam. He proclaims the consequential Assyrian captivity. A trumpet signals the battle, an eagle swoops in and seizes its prey.
“For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind”
Hosea 9
Because of Israel’s infidelity with other gods, and their other sins, their feast days will be full of sorrow rather than joy. Either symbolically or actually, they will return to their Egyptian bondage. The corruption of Gibeah refers to the incident In Judges 19-21 when the men of the town not only behaved like the men of Sodom (Gen 19: instead of offering the culturally expected hospitality, demanded to be given the traveler for their sexual pleasure), they brutalized the man’s concubine all night to death. The kingdom of Israel will pay for their sins.
The prophet (symbolized as a watchman) and the spiritual man are considered fools or madmen, and hated for catching Israel in their sins. The Lord had cherished Israel like grapes found in the wilderness, or a newly producing fig tree. But Israel went after the worship of the Moabite god (Baal) worshipped at Peor (reference to what happened as the Israelites were about to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land under Joshua). As a result, Israel’s glory will abandon her. When the Lord ceases to be a Protector of Israel their children will be destroyed. Like Tyre, Israel was planted in an advantageous place, but Israel’s children will be murdered. Instead of reproductive fertility, they’ll have miscarriages and lack of lactating breasts. Gilgal was one of the locations for the worship of the calves that Jeroboam set up.
“My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.”
Hosea 10
The more Israel prospered the more idols were set up. The Lord will destroy all those. They figured if their king was removed because of their unbelief (they had lost the Lord’s protection, so the king was removed by foreign powers), what could any king do to them? They have made contracts they didn’t intend to honor. Judgment will come upon them. Weeds growing up in the field are pesky, but a hemlock having taken root in a field could become indestructible. Such would be their fate.
The calves of Beth-aven refers to one of the places of false (calf-god) worship set up by Jeroboam. Whereas it was prosperous, it will be impoverished, shamed, destroyed. Samaria, as the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, will see her king disappear as easily as foam on water. The place of calf-worship will be destroyed such that thorny weeds will overtake it. The destruction will be so bad the people will wish they could be buried under mountains.
Once again Gibeah is referenced (see Hosea 9), when the tribes of Israel all came and destroyed the city of Gibeah for the wickedness of its men.
Hosea invokes the metaphor of cattle obediently/dutifully working the land and in the harvest to implore “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.” Instead of that, Israel has cultivated wickedness. Israel has trusted her own judgment and her armies rather than God.
About Shalman, see https://biblehub.com/topical/s/shalman.htm
Hosea 11
When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
The Lord rescued the Children of Israel from bondage in Israel. He brought the child Jesus back from a sojourn in Egypt when his family fled Herod’s murderous rampage against anyone who might be a competitor to him or his family. God calls/rescues us, His children, from bondage to modern idolatries.
But the Children of Israel turned to idol (Baalim) worship. The Lord had a prophet anoint a king (Jeroboam) from the tribe of Ephraim to lead the northern kingdom of Israel, but they (led by king Jeroboam) didn’t acknowledge His help. God was like the owner of a horse or other beast of burden leading his animal lovingly, and releasing it from its bridle to feed (“The word ‘meat,’ when our English version was made, meant food in general; or if any particular kind was designated, it referred to meal, flour or grain.” https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/smiths-bible-dictionary/meat.html ).
Israel won’t return to bondage in Egypt, but be captive of Assyria, because they would not return to the Lord. War will continue on Israel’s cities and consume them, devour them, because of their unrighteous decisions. They were called to come to the most High, but they were unwilling to praise Him or consider Him as exalted.
As a loving Father, the Lord laments, “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.” Admah & Zeboiim were 2 cities near Sodom & Gomorrah, and were destroyed with them. But, “I am God, and not man”, He says. He feels sorrow, but doesn’t have to repent in the same way that humans do. In these verses He says He won’t punish Israel (as He has already said He would), but in context, that would be if Israel returned to Him. If they would return to Him, He would be in their midst (not enter the cities, implying in battle). If they would walk in the ways of the Lord, He would protect them like a lion against enemies from the west (or anywhere). Israel’s enemies would tremble like birds in Egypt and Assyria. He would settle them in their homes in safety. But in contradiction to that vision of what could be, Ephraim/Israel is full of lies and deceits. As of yet, Judah is ruled by the God-fearing and faithful as the holy men/women of old.
Hosea 12
Ephraim/Israel, instead of seeking things substantial, gulps the wind. Everyday he increases lies and destruction (of the truth, or his own land). They try to make alliances with Assyria and Egypt, implying that these alliances will be as insubstantial as wind, or will lead to the destruction of their land.
The Lord is not satisfied with behavior of the Jews either, and will punish all of Jacob/Israel in recompense of their choices. He refers to the birth of Jacob & Esau, when Jacob took Esau by the heel. Jacob was strengthened by God. Jacob struggled with an angel and won. Jacob sought and found the Lord in Bethel. The Lord spoke to Israel (the nation through the man). The Lord keeps Israel in His memory. So, Hosea implores Israel, “Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and [righteous] judgment, and wait on thy God continually.”
But the Israelites are like a deceitful merchant with false balances (means of measure), who loves oppressing/stepping on others to succeed. Ephraim/Israel boasts that he’s become wealthy with all he’s done, and no one calls him out or holds him to judgment/accountability for his crimes. The Lord reminds them that He brought them out of Israel. That the Lord will make the Israelites live in booths might be either that their houses are destroyed, or that they will begin to celebrate the feasts/Holy Days that the Lord called for. The Lord has spoken to Israel through prophets, visions, and symbolisms. Yet the people sacrifice vainly everywhere—as ubiquitously as piles of rocks in a field (anyone who has farmed in a rocky region will recognize this picture). About Gilead, see https://www.compellingtruth.org/land-of-Gilead.html
Hosea returns to references of Jacob’s life, when Jacob fled to his uncle Laban (who lived in land ruled by Syria), and worked as a shepherd for him to earn the bride price of a wife. Remember that the Lord had covenanted to be with Jacob. By the prophet Moses the Lord brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt, and took care of them. But Ephraim/Israel provoked the Lord “most bitterly”, and will receive the consequences of that.
Hosea 13
When Jeroboam, of the tribe of Ephraim, was yet insecure, he managed to become king. But he offended the Lord by turning the people to idols. An now the Israelites worship more and more idols, which are made by craftsmen. Jeroboam set up the worship of calves, wherein either physically or metaphorically people would kiss them. Therefore, Israel will disperse like a morning cloud, or the early dew. They’ll be like chaff blowing in the wind or whirlwind, or as ephemeral as smoke.
But eventually Israel will recognize that the Lord is the only God, the only savior. He took care of them in the wilderness, the desert. He gave them pasture (see Psalm 23), fed them, lifted up their hearts. And yet they have forgotten all He did for them. Like a lion or a leopard watches its prey, the Lord has His eye on Israel, and will attack them as furiously as a mother bear whose cubs have been killed or taken away.
“O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.”
The Lord offers to be Israel’s king. Can anyone else save them? He gave them a king when they asked (under Samuel the prophet, and later Jeroboam was anointed king over the northern tribes), and took away the king(s) when he was angry with them (eg Saul and other kings through their history). He offers to bind up (as a wound) their iniquities and cover their sins. But because of their rebellion against the Lord, they will be hurting as a woman in birth. The Israelites are like a foolish son, who hangs around in the birthing room.
The Lord offers to pay off their debt (in that they are worthy of destruction), and save them from destruction (death & the grave). The Lord will not change His mind, if they will just return to Him.
But despite such a bounteous land they have enjoyed, it will be as if an east wind (off the desert) brings drought & famine, dries up the springs, and the crops are all spoiled. In this case, that the wind comes from the east can be metaphorical as well as physical, the “wind” from the east meaning also Assyria. All the beautiful containers full of treasures (agricultural or financial wealth) will be spoiled/despoiled. Samaria (the capital city, representing the northern kingdom of Israel), will be ruined, because she rebelled against God. They will fall by the sword, their children dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped up. (Such barbarity causes us to shudder for them even to this day).
Hosea 14—a plea and promises for Israel to return to the Lord
1 O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
2 Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. [Remember the promises of Moses if they repent.]
3 Asshur [Assyria] shall not save us; we will not ride [in pride] upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee [God] the fatherless findeth mercy.
4 ¶ I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon [known for its cedars].
6 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn [grain], and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
8 Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I [God] have heard him [Israel], and observed him: I am like a green fir tree [which offers great shade and wood products, symbolizes strength and wealth]. From me is thy fruit [or nuts] found.
9 Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.
Hezekiah–king of Judah
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The story of Hezekiah is told in
2 Kings 18-20
2 Chron 29-32
Isa 36-39
Hosea 1:1 served God as prophet during the reigns of Uzziah/Azariah, Jotham, Ahaz, & Hezekiah
Isaiah 1:1 served God as prophet during the reigns of Uzziah/Azariah, Jotham, Ahaz, & Hezekiah
Micah 1:1 served God as prophet during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, & Hezekiah
2 Kings 18—Hezekiah becomes king of Judah
1 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
2 Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.
3 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did. [That is, he was faithful to God, didn’t fall for or bow to other gods.]
4 ¶ He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. [1 Chron 31:1 says the people cut down the groves etc; it may be that they did so under the direction of Hezekiah, for surely he didn’t personally do it all.]
5 He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.
6 For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses.
7 And the Lord was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.
8 He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
2 Chron 29—right away Hezekiah begins to turn his people back to God
Hezekiah began in the 1st year of his reign to repair the Temple and to reinstitute Temple worship, the consecration & duties of the Temple priests and Levites, and to get his people back on track following the Law of Moses. He organized the priesthood as set up by King David (see 2 Chron 31). Remember that the Assyrian Empire is threatening to conquer the entire Middle East. Hezekiah’s own father, as well as the Israelite king, had invited Assyria’s meddling in their disputes.
2 Chron 29:11 Hezekiah to the priests & Levites
“My sons, be not now negligent: for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him . . .”
2 Kings 18:9-12—Shalmaneser king of Assyria conquers & takes Israel captive
In the 4th year of Hezekiah’s reign, the 7th year of Hoshea, king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria comes and besieges Samaria, and after 3 years conquers it. He carries the 10 Tribes of Israel from the northern kingdom of Israel away captive.
2 Chron 30--Hezekiah sends out an invitation to all the Israelites that are left to come celebrate Passover in Jerusalem
6 So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.
7 And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see.
8 Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.
9 For if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.
Many of the Israelites just laugh at Hezekiah, but then many others come from among Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun. “Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the Lord. And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation. And they arose and took away the altars [to other gods] that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense [for other gods] took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron.”
Many of the Israelites were not ritually clean for the Passover, “But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good Lord pardon every one [that] prepareth his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary. And the Lord [a God of Mercy] hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people. And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness: and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the Lord.” Hezekiah praises the Levites for teaching “the good knowledge of the Lord.”
This Passover celebration comes at no small cost to king Hezekiah and his princes: Hezekiah donates 1000 bulls & 7000 sheep, and his princes donate 1000 bulls & 10,000 sheep. It’s such a great event that the people keep the feast for another 7 days “with gladness.” “So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem.” The priests pronounce a blessing on the people, “and their prayer came up to His holy dwelling place, even unto heaven.”
2 Chron 31—the people are turned to God, Hezekiah is blessed
The people are so inspired by this amazing Passover, and probably with the encouragement of Hezekiah, that “all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.” The people abundantly support the priests with their offerings, as set forth in the Law of Moses. The priestly genealogies are updated and they sanctify themselves.
20 ¶ And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the Lord his God.
21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.
2 Kings 18, 2 Chron 32, Isaiah 36—Sennacherib King of Assyria attacks Judah, even to the walls of Jerusalem
2 Kings 18—14th year of Hezekiah Sennacherib king of Assyria conquers much of Judah (Isa 36:1)
13 ¶ Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.
14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king’s house.
16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
2 Chron 32—Hezekiah decides, with his princes & mighty men, to put up a defense vs Assyria
(see also 2 Kings 18 and Isaiah 36)
Sennacherib has camped against the fenced cities of Judah, “and thought to win them for himself.” Apparently he is successful. But when Hezekiah sees he proposes to take Jerusalem as well, Hezekiah consults with his princes and military, and they decide to put up a fight. The princes & military throw their support behind Hezekiah as he stops the fountains/brooks outside the city so that the opposing army would have no water (mention of bringing the water into the city via a conduit 2 Kings 20:20). He repairs and strengthens the city walls and towers. He builds up his arsenal of darts and shields. He gathers the people inside the city walls and organizes them under captains. He encourages his people:
7 Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him:
8 With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
The Assyrian king is busy fighting against Lachish, and sends two top military leaders with a huge army against Jerusalem. An ambassage come out to meet the Assyrian leaders. The Assyrians say, What does Hezekiah think he’s doing, to rebel against Assyria? Does he think he can rely on an alliance with Egypt? Egypt is like a broken reed. Does he try to convince you to trust in your God? He’s destroyed all the places of worship but in Jerusalem (obviously the Assyrians don’t recognize any difference between the idolatrous gods and the God of Israel). Have any of the other nations’ gods saved them?
“Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rab-shakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and talk not with us in the Jews’ language in the ears of the people that are on the wall” 2 Kings 18:26. But that's exactly the Assyrian plan, “they cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ speech unto the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble them; that they might take the city” 2 Chron 32:18. And the Assyrians continue insulting God and telling the people not to trust that Hezekiah can deliver them from defeat, nor the depths of starvation, being reduce to eating their own dung and drinking their own piss. They offer the people a deal: if they’ll agree to Assyrian terms they can go to their own properties, eat their own grapes & figs, drink from their own cisterns of water—that is, until they are carried away captive to another land, not unlike their own, with plenty of bread and wine, olives and honey. The people make no answer to the Assyrians, as Hezekiah has commanded, but the ambassage comes back to report to Hezekiah, their clothes rent/torn with extremely troubled hearts.
2 Kings 19:1 & Isa 37:1 “And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.”
Hezekiah sends his ambassage in sackcloth & ashes to the prophet Isaiah. Maybe God will hear the reproaches of the Assyrian king and come to our aid, he hopes.
2 Chron 32:20 “And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven.”
2 Kings 19 (Isa 37:6-7)
6 ¶ And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
With others wars going on, the Assyrian military or leaders go to help their ruler. It seems like they return after that, and in a letter they reaffirm that no other gods have saved their people from Assyrian might. Hezekiah spreads the letter before the Lord in the Temple, praying for help. “O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only.” Isaiah sends a reply from the Lord to Hezekiah, answering the king of Assyria, “The virgin the daughter of Zion [that is, the kingdom of Judah—under which, once again, all that’s left of the House of Israel are ruled] hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee . . . Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel . . . Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, [images of cattle and horses, subservient to others] and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.”
A sign is given that the people would eat of volunteer crops 2 years, and the third they would plant and reap their own foods. God makes a promise, “Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord.” That night God sends an angel to destroy the Assyrian army—185,000 die. Sennacherib returns to Ninevah. As he’s worshipping in the temple of his god, 2 of his sons kill him and flee, his other son inherits the Empire.
2 Chron 32
22 Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side.
23 And many brought gifts unto the Lord to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah: so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from thenceforth. [People love a winner, and it appears that Hezekiah has saved them all from Assyria's rule.]
2 Kings 20 (2 Chron 32:24, Isa 38:1-6)—Hezekiah’s sickness, promised 15 more years
Assyria assails the kingdom of Judah in Hezekiah’s 14th year. Hezekiah’s reign is 29 years. So if he’s promised to live 15 more years, apparently this critical illness (a horrible boil) occurs during the Assyrian siege.
1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying,
3 I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
4 And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord.
6 And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.
7 And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
Hezekiah’s mourning in his sickness is written in Isa 38:9-20.
Hezekiah asks for a sign, and Isaiah asks, Do you want the shadow of the sun to go forward 10 degrees, or backward? Hezekiah chooses the latter, Isaiah prays that it be so, and it was so. (Interesting note, it was shown on the sundial of the previous king, Hezekiah’s father, Ahaz). The king of Babylon sends letters and a gift to Hezekiah, on hearing that he is returned to health (2 Kings 20:12, Isaiah 39:1), which will become a snare to him.
2 Chron 32 (2 Kings 20:12-19, Isaiah 39:1-8)—Hezekiah foolishly shows off
27 ¶ And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour: and he made himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant jewels;
28 Storehouses also for the increase of corn, and wine, and oil; and stalls for all manner of beasts, and cotes for flocks.
29 Moreover he provided him cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance: for God had given him substance very much.
30 This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works. [Remember, he lived 15 years after his sickness, he's been plied with gifts from other nations, and possibly it was after the Assyrian war that he was victorious over Philistine cities, 2 Kings 18:8]
Ambassadors from Babylon come to congratulate Hezekiah on his recovery, and he gets carried away with showing off all he has. He shows them everything. Isaiah asks Hezekiah who the men were and what they had to say. Hezekiah answers him, to which Isaiah asks what he showed them. Hezekiah says, Everything! Isaiah rebukes him for his foolishness and tells him that as a consequence all he has, including what he has inherited from his fathers/ancestors, will be carried away to Babylon. His heirs will be taken away to serve as eunuchs in the palace of Babylon, cutting off his lineage as successors to his crown. Since he can’t do anything about it now, Hezekiah seems to take the pronouncement rather philosophically. “Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.” Isa 39:8
2 Chron 32:32-33, Kings 20:20-21—death of Hezekiah
(2 Kings 20:20 mentions the conduit & pool to bring water into the city)
32 ¶ Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, and in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
33 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.
scripturescript 
